BLUE EARTH — Martin County West and Blue Earth Area combined to serve 28 aces in a Maverick volleyball victory Monday night in Blue Earth.

MCW used respective set scores of 20-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-20 to beat the Bucs.

The Bucs and Mavericks stayed close through each set, never separating by more than six points at any time.

BEA took a 14-9 lead in Set 1, but the Mavericks stormed back to tie at 15 and 18-all. Back-to-back aces from libero Eloise Blair, a Miya Gustafson ace and two Brita Hougen aces earned the Bucs 5 of their final 7 points for a 25-20 win.

“Coming off a long weekend with a tournament, I thought they came out well in the first set,” Blue Earth Area head coach Donna Nawrocki said. “The second set, when you win the first set, it’s usually a big high and there is a lot of letdown, but I thought they recovered well and stayed close. I was happy with the net play, we got more blocks tonight, still working on the transition game, but overall they played well. I do know in my heart that they need to believe in themselves more, and this could have been their win tonight.”

MCW rallied to a 10-5 lead in Set 2, but BEA fought back to take a 12-10 lead on the strength of Emma Langager’s serves. BEA got as far ahead as 19-14 after Liz Beeler used one of her team-leading 15 set assists to help Maci Frommie total a kill.

The Mavericks came back to tie at 20 when Logan Kosbab hit an ace serve and Jenna Clow spiked a kill.

The teams battled to a tie at 23, but Emily Dunlop’s ace block and Shaylynn Anderson’s service ace clinched the set for the Mavericks.

MCW head coach Hilary Elliott said she had a feeling of how the Mavericks would play after the lower-level games.

“We played pretty sloppy tonight,” Elliott said. “Watching the ‘B’ and ‘C’ squads tonight, I noticed that they were not really playing up to their abilities and I thought, ‘Oh boy we might be in for a rough start if this is how the varsity plays,’ and I was pretty much about right.”

Neither team could garner more than a two-point advantage in Set 3 until MCW used back-to-back Sami Meyer kills to start a six-point rally that included three Kosbab aces.

The Mavericks extended the lead to 22-16 when Clow totalled three aces during a five-point run.

Langager and Hougen each hit an ace to try to keep BEA in contention, but a Shaylynn Anderson ace and a BEA hit into the net sealed Set 3 for the Mavericks.

The teams battled through the first points of the final set, before MCW used a Meyer kill and a couple of BEA mistakes to build a 15-10 lead.

BEA was then the beneficiary of unforced errors that allowed the Bucs to get within 17-15, but one of Anderson’s four ace serves helped start a rally, building MCW’s lead to 20-15. Neither team was able to capitalize on its own serve through 21-18, but an illegal substitution on the Bucs — their third of the match — gave MCW a 22-18 advantage. Taylor Elliott’s kill clinched the deciding 25-20 score.

Sami Meyer drilled eight kills, Bella Bicknase dished out 21 set assists, while Dunlop totalled four blocks and six digs for the Mavericks. Gabby Lange totaled six kills, while Clow totaled five aces and 11 digs to help MCW. Kosbab had four kills to complement her Maverick team-leading nine digs and six ace serves.

Eloise Blair led the Bucs with four ace serves to complement her game-leading 16 digs, while Miya Gustafson, Langager and Hougen each had three aces. Hougen added a team-leading four kills and an ace block. Heidi Hermann led the Bucs with six ace blocks and three kills, while Beeler complemented her 15 assists with 12 digs.

BEA (0-8, 0-3 Big South) hosts Fairmont at 7:30 p.m. tonight, while MCW (3-4) travels to Cleveland.

New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva 3, Fairmont 2 — The Panthers scratched out a 23-25, 25-14, 25-14, 22-25, 15-7 marathon victory over the youthful Cardinals during nonconference action Monday night in New Richland.

Cambrie Anderson topped the Fairmont statistical charts by pounding 10 kills to complement 13 digs and two aces behind an 18-for-19 serving performance.

Natalie Tonne drilled nine kills for the Cardinals, Kylee Harder contributed six kills, four set assists and two aces on 16-for-16 serving, while Bryn Miller notched six kills.

Sabrina Segar distributed 19 set assists, made nine digs and connected on 16 of 19 serves for Fairmont, while Jen Moeller lined home three aces behind 15-for-15 serving to go with 14 digs.

Sophie Johnson chipped in nine digs and an 8-for-9 serving effort, Madysen Allen tallied 11 digs and went 7 of 8 serving, Cassidy Schultz generated eight digs and three blocks, while Andrea Westcott doled out eight set assists for the visitors.

Fairmont (1-7) travels to Blue Earth Area tonight for a 7:30 p.m. Big South Conference match.

NRHEG defeated Fairmont, 25-13, 25-13, in B-squad action Monday night.

Kynlie Anderson served four aces for the Cardinals, Jaya Johnson made four digs, Brittney Mosloski blocked two opposing spikes and Riley Henzler tallied two kills.

NRHEG posted wins of 25-19, 25-11, 15-13 over Fairmont during C-squad action Monday.

Jazlyn Geerdes went 10-for-10 serving for the Cardinals, Olivia Ortega served 7 of 8, while Makayla Javers went 5 of 6 serving to go with two kills.