VIEW TO A KILL — Fairmont middle hitter Brittney Mosloski (10) hammers a set from Kaitlyn Scott (7) for a kill between St. Peter defenders Danielle Johnson (11) and Kylee Horner (8) during Big South Conference volleyball action Thursday night at Cardinal Gym in Fairmont. The Cardinals’ Cassidy Schultz (9) watches the action from the back row. (Photo by Greg Abel)

FAIRMONT — The Fairmont volleyball team celebrated senior night in style.

The Cardinals took their first win of the season by a 3-0 decision over the St. Peter Saints on Thursday night at Cardinal Gym in Fairmont.

The Cardinals claimed straight wins of 25-22, 25-20, 25-18 for the sweep.

“That was a much-needed win for the girls, a big confidence builder,” Fairmont head coach Kim Breamer said. “They hustled so much tonight, they deserve this win, they worked their butts off. I told them, ‘I think this is the hardest I’ve seen you work all season.’ We only have the six seniors and it was senior night, and they put the hard work in to come out with the win.”

The teams began Game 1 swapping points to get to 4-3 before a Cassidy Schultz ace put the Cardinals up two. Maddy Schwieger then served the Cardinals to three consecutive points to go ahead 8-4, before Fairmont pushed its lead to 10-6.

Mckenna Vanzee then served two aces in a seven-point streak to put the Saints up 12-10, but Kaitlyn Scott used one of her eight assists on a Brittney Mosloski kill to end the run.

Two points later, a Sabrina Segar ace tied the matchup at 13, then Segar assisted Natalie Tonne for a kill before Tonne teamed up with Schultz for a combined blocking ace to go ahead 17-13.

The Saints came back to tie at 19 before the Cardinals took a 6-3 run, with Scott assisting two of Mosloski’s game-high 12 kills to take the initial game.

St. Peter jumped ahead 9-4 to open Game 2 after a couple of Danielle Johnson service aces, but the Cardinals stormed back to a tie at 12 with Mosloski getting a kill off a Scott assist and a blocking ace. Mosloski then combined with Tonne for a block before getting a kill.

Bryn Miller added one of her five kills to tie the match again, this time at 14, before Schultz served the Cardinals to a 17-15 advantage.

St. Peter took four of the next six points to tie at 19, then a Saints’ spike in the net gave Madysen Allen the serve, where she worked the Cardinals to a 22-19 lead.

Back-to-back service errors put Mosloski behind the service line, where she hit back-to-back aces to finish Game 2 with the Cardinals up five.

The Saints started Game 3 strong, jumping ahead 5-0, then 9-2 before Breamer called a crucial timeout.

“I told them that they could do it, they have the ability and we needed to pick it up,” Breamer said. “They did just that.”

Breamer’s encouragement stuck, and the Cardinals stormed ahead to a 14-10 advantage on Schultz’s six-point run at the service line. Schultz hit a service ace, then Segar assisted Mosloski on consecutive points, before Mosloski won a contest at the net for another kill.

Abigail Haggenmiller served the Saints to a 15-14 advantage, but a Miller kill through the hands of a Saints’ block stopped the run.

Schwieger served the Cardinals to a 17-15 advantage after Segar assisted Miller for a kill and the Cardinals would not relinquish the lead again.

After a Grace Remmert kill for St. Peter, Scott assisted Miller for a kill to put Allen behind the service line, where she led the Cardinals to a 22-16 lead.

The Cardinals forced two Saints’ errors, then Schultz won a contest at the net for a blocking ace to claim the match for the Cardinals.

“I tell them every game to go out and have fun,” Breamer said of her team’s confidence and relaxed attitudes during timeouts. “We need to go out and have fun, … our girls had it in them and came out with the win. I think this is the first time we’ve beat St. Peter in a number of years.”

Segar served a perfect 13-for-13 with one ace to complement 10 set assists and six digs, while Miller added two digs to her five kills. Scott dished out eight assists and dug out seven spikes, while Schultz served 14-for-17 with two aces, to complement four kills, eight digs and two blocks.

Mosloski added six of six serving and two aces to her team-high 12 kills, while Allen had 14 digs and served 15 of 17. Jaya Johnson served 10-for-11 to complement 14 digs and Schwieger added an 8-for-9 day serving.

Fairmont (1-5) plays host to St. James Area in a rescheduled match at 11 a.m. Saturday. The Cardinals finish the regular season at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday when they go to Waseca.

The Saints finish the season with a record of 8-2 after the St. Peter school district decided to switch to fully-distance learning starting next week.

St. Peter swept Fairmont, 25-15, 15-11, in B-squad action Thursday night in Fairmont.

Kynlie Anderson dished out five set assists and served two aces, while Olivia Ortega and Anna Ehlert each contributed six digs to the Cardinal defensive effort.

The Saints took two of three during C-squad action Thursday, winning 25-23, 15-25, 15-9.

Nevaeh Rahm had four digs for the Cardinals, while Alexis Bush added three kills to the Cardinal offense.

Waseca 3, Blue Earth Area 0 — The Bluejays flew by the Bucs, 25-18, 25-21, 25-14, during Big South Conference volleyball action Thursday night in Blue Earth.

Liz Beeler led the Bucs with 15 set assists and 12 digs to complement 8 of 9 serving, while Brita Hougen had a team-high six kills and served 10-for-11 from the line with four points.

Taylor Klabunde added 10 digs and four kills to the Bucs’ efforts, while Miya Gustafson had eight digs and served 10-for12 with two aces and a team-high seven points. Emma Langager added three kills for BEA.

Blue Earth Area (1-5) goes to New Ulm on Tuesday for a 7:30 p.m. matchup.