FAIRMONT — New Ulm’s Natalie Yackley and Talya Hoel spread the love, while Nora Windschill, Hoel and Riley Melby slammed down kills to beat Fairmont.

Yackley and Hoel each facilitated more than 10 assists, while Hoel, Melby and Windschill each contributed more than five kills.

The Eagles swept the Cardinals 3-0 in Big South Conference volleyball action in Fairmont on Tuesday.

With an 18-15 lead in the first set, Yackley set up one of her game-leading 12 assists and Windschill spiked one of her game-leading nine kills to give the Eagles possession and put Yackley behind the service line.

Yackley served New Ulm to a 23-15 lead with an ace and multiple Fairmont mistakes, but a serve into the net ended her run.

The Eagles got possession back quickly after Hoel used one of her 11 assists to help Windschill for a kill, then a back-row attack violation on the Cardinals ended the set 25-16 Eagles.

Fairmont jumped out to a 6-2 lead to start the second set when Jen Moeller served the Cardinals to four-consecutive points, including a Kaitlyn Scott assist on a Natalie Tonne kill. Then Sophie Johnson served Fairmont to a 13-6 lead with an ace and a few New Ulm mistakes.

But the Eagles fought back to tie the matchup at 17 when the Cardinals hit three consecutive spikes into the net.

The teams traded points to a tie at 21, then the Eagles used a Caitlyn Todesco ace and a Hoel-assisted Windschill kill to go ahead 24-21.

One more spike into the net from the Cardinals ended Set 2 25-21.

Fairmont head coach Kim Breamer said Fairmont needed to stay out of its own way.

“We kind of beat ourselves tonight,” Breamer said. “New Ulm didn’t beat us, we beat ourselves. We’re gonna come out ready to go on Thursday so we can get the win against St. James.”

The teams traded points and short runs to get to 13-11 Eagles in the third set before Yackley served the Eagles to a 17-11 lead. The run included kills from Emmy Munson and Hoel, but an Andrea Westcott assist on a Cambrie Anderson kill ended the streak.

Fairmont came back to within 17-14 when Sabrina Segar earned three consecutive points for the Cardinals.

After the teams traded scores to get to 19-16 Eagles, Nicole Albrecht served New Ulm to a 23-16 lead with three points created by Melby.

Melby combined with Hoel for a block and used assists from Windschill and Albrecht for two kills.

Yackley assisted Ally Steffensmeier to give the Eagles their 24th point before Melby earned her sixth kill of the day and fourth of the set to end the match with a 25-17 third set win.

“We didn’t come out fighting as hard as I would have liked them to,” Breamer said. “They’ve got the fight in them, they just didn’t have it tonight.”

Westcott led the Cardinals with nine assists and served a perfect six-for-six, while Segar had six assists and led Fairmont with 11 digs.

Anderson had a team-leading eight kills to complement her seven digs, while serving eight of nine.

Fairmont (3-9) plays host to St. James Area at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, while New Ulm (6-5) hosts Waseca.

St. James 3, Blue Earth Area 0 — The Saints used respective set scores of 25-18, 25-8, 25-18, to beat the Bucs in a Big South Conference volleyball matchup Tuesday night in St. James.

Brita Hougen, Alicia Machacek and Maci Frommie each had three kills to lead the Bucs, while each complemented their kills with one ace block.

Liz Beeler had a team-leading 11 assists and added eight digs, while Eloise Blair had a team-leading 14 digs.

Hougen (seven-for-seven), Natalie Huse (five-for-five) and Miya Gustafson (seven-for-seven) were all perfect from behind the service line.

Blue Earth Area (0-14, 0-5) plays host to St. Peter at 7:15 p.m. Thursday.

Bishop Garrigan 3, North Union 1 — The Golden Bears took three straight sets to come back and beat the Warriors, 17-25, 25-14, 25-17, 25-16 in a Top of Iowa Conference volleyball matchup in Armstrong on Tuesday.

Chloe Lofstrom led the Warriors with nine kills to complement her co-team-leading 17 digs, while Carys Fuller shared the team lead with 17 digs.

May Laverty had six kills and three blocks, while Abby Deitering had 13 digs.

Lily Henderson led the Warriors with 14 assists.

Olivia Von Bank served 20 of 22, Lofstrom successfully hit 13 out of 15 serves and Laverty was a perfect 11-for-11 from behind the service line.

North Union (2-13) travels to Spirit Lake, Iowa, for a 7 p.m. match Thursday.

St. Clair 3, Martin County West 0 — The Cyclones wiped out the Mavericks, 25-15, 25-22, 25-13 in a Valley Conference volleyball clash Tuesday night in Trimont.

Olivia Anderson led the Mavericks with three kills, while Shaylynn Anderson had a team-leading five assists and added eight digs.

Jenna Clow led the Mavericks with 10 digs, while Sami Meyer had five and Logan Kosbab, Maiah Schofield and Bella Bicknase each added four.

Martin County West (3-11) plays host to Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton at 7:15 p.m. Thursday night in Trimont in a Valley Conference match.