BLUE EARTH — Fairmont used its lineup depth to overcome shorthanded Blue Earth Area.

The Cardinals had six players total at least three kills and dressed 17 players, while the Bucs relied on three players with three kills or more and 11 total players.

Fairmont beat Blue Earth Area, 25-17, 25-15, 25-18, in a Big South Conference volleyball clash Tuesday night in Blue Earth.

The teams battled to a tie at 13 in the opening set before Liz Beeler dished out one of her team-leading 15 set assists to Heidi Herrmann for a kill, putting the Bucs ahead. Fairmont then began a dominate run.

Sabrina Segar served the Cardinals to a 22-14 lead. Fairmont used a Cassidy Schultz and Cambrie Anderson combined block, a Anderson kill and a connection from Kylee Harder to Schultz to help the streak.

The Bucs’ Miya Gustafson assisted Gabby Haaland to end the run, but the Cardinals were able to close out the set when Segar assisted Natalie Tonne for one of her five kills.

BEA head coach Donna Nawrocki said she was happy with her team’s effort and with how they continue to grow.

“I thought we were a little sluggish, but I think we regrouped from last night (Monday). We went over a lot of things with this young group I have,” Nawrocki said. “We focused on the little things, tonight we did not serve as well as we did last night and that was a difference in the game. … Overall I’m proud of the girls’ efforts. … We’re in that growing stage and we’ll continue to process and move forward.”

The Bucs and Cardinals kept close through the beginning of Set 2, but after a tie at 10, the Cardinals jumped ahead. Segar served the Cardinals to another run, this one six points, taking advantage of BEA mistakes.

With Fairmont leading 16-10, a Maci Frommie kill, one of her team-leading five, off a Beeler assist stopped the run. The teams traded points to get to 18-13 before Jen Moeller served the Cardinals to a 22-13 lead with an ace and a point off a Natalie Tonne kill from a Segar assist.

Harder got the Cardinals to a 24-14 lead with an ace and Westcott assisted Tonne for the set-clinching point.

“Overall they played well as a team, they did really well,” Fairmont head coach Kim Breamer said “They came out not so strong in the first couple sets, but they fought back and played really well as a team in that third set.”

The Cardinals took control early in the final set, building a 14-3 lead off multiple ace serves and two of Bryn Miller’s game-leading seven kills.

Down 16-5, Beeler served the Bucs back within 16-10 on an ace and a five-point run, then BEA got within 20-16 after a Miya Gustafson service ace and a Emma Langager ace. But Westcott assisted both Miller and Anderson, on one of Anderson’s six kills, to build and clinch the Fairmont win.

Breamer said the key to Fairmont’s better play in the third set was communication.

“They played to their ability and not the other team’s ability,” Breamer said. “They worked well as a team and talked to each other more. They were moving and getting our hits.”

Miller complemented her Fairmont-leading seven kills with five digs and an ace block, while Anderson added a game-leading 22 digs to her six kills. Moeller had 12 digs and went 12 of 13 serving, while Tonne had five kills and two blocks for the Cardinals.

Hermann had three kills and three ace blocks for the Bucs, while Brita Hougen had three kills, six digs and two ace blocks. Eloise Blair led the Bucs with 17 digs and served 10 of 12 with an ace.

Fairmont (2-8) plays host to Worthington at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, while BEA (0-9) plays in the St. Peter Invite at 9 a.m. Saturday.

Fairmont swept BEA 25-20, 25-11 in B-squad action Tuesday night in Blue Earth.

The Cardinals totalled 12 aces in the two sets, including four from Vanessa Bliesmer.

Brittany Mosloski led the Cardinals with five kills and eight digs, while Mikayla Fitzloff led the team with six digs.

Grace Klunder added five digs for the Fairmont defense.

Fairmont defeated Blue Earth Area in C-squad action, 25-19, 26-24, Tuesday night.

Hadley Artz had five kills, Chantelle Moeller went 11-for-12 from the service line for the Cardinals, while Olivia Ortega served a perfect 12 of 12 and added three set assists.

North Union 3, West Hancock 0 — The Warriors swept the Eagles, 26-24, 25-26, 25-12, for a Top of Iowa Conference win Tuesday night in Britt, Iowa.

Chloe Lofstrom led the Warriors with six kills to complement her seven digs, while Shayla Reese had five kills and a team-leading four blocks.

Carys Fuller and Lily Henderson each had 10 digs to lead the Warrior defense, while Fuller added a team-leading five service aces and Henderson had a team-leading six set assists.

Rachel Arndorfer dished out five assists, while adding three digs and Abby Deitering had seven digs.

North Union (1-8) competes in the Spirit Lake Invite at 9 a.m. Saturday.

Cleveland 3, Martin County West 0 — The Clippers swept the Mavericks, 25-14, 25-17, 25-19, during Valley Conference action Tuesday night in Cleveland.

Emily Dunlop, Jenna Clow and Olivia Anderson each had three kills to lead the MCW offense, while Dunlop added a team-leading four blocks.

Olivia Anderson and Sami Meyer each had three blocks for the Mavericks.

Bella Bicknase led the Mavericks by distributing seven set assists and added five digs, while Gabby Lange and Shaylynn Anderson each had five assists. Payton Leiding led the defense with six digs and Logan Kosbab added five digs.

MCW (3-5) travels to Nicollet for a 7:15 p.m. Valley Conference match Thursday night.