Cardinals return to .500 with win over St. James
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FAIRMONT - Fairmont volleyball head coach Stacy Garbers didn't want to see a fifth set. After the Cardinals took the first two game points in Tuesday night's battle against St. James, the third went in the visiting team’s favor to prevent the sweep. But it was the only set where the Saints saw victory.
Fairmont's breakaway during the final set inside the Cardinal gymnasium secured the 3-1 win over its Big South Conference opponent, 25-18, 25-17, 17-25, 25-17. The victory pushes the Cardinals back to .500 while snapping their previous two-game skid against Tri-City United and Worthington.
"We came out strong in those first two games, which was good," Garbers said. "Letting up in the third game is where we have to work harder to finish it right away when we are on top. ...We've lost two tough games that could've gone either way, so it's always nice to get a win at home."
A back-and-forth opening set went Fairmont's way after a dominant push to close. St. James tightened things up by scoring five of seven points, cutting a once-stable Cardinal lead to just a 20-18 advantage.
Jadyn Montgomery's kill over the middle-court settled things down. Fairmont used this spike to vault to a set victory, scoring four more points and sealing the win with Ella Wubbena's ace from the service line.
But the biggest run of the match, however, came in Set 2. A run that Garbers called the largest she's seen from her girls this season. Five straight points, thanks to a Harlee Fastnacht block and two Kaylee Kloeckner kills, pushed Fairmont to an opening 8-2 advantage.
Kynlee Beemer was denied at the net to temporarily stop the bleeding. However, seven additional points from the home team quite literally put the match out of reach. Everything seemed to work for Fairmont during this stretch.
Haylin Haycraft had two aces, and Kloeckner notched two points with her spiking power. The Cardinals even secured a point after a Kloeckner save and Nora Fitzgerald hit over kept a rally going. Nothing could go wrong. Fitzgerald notched the final point with a perfectly placed ace in between any St. James players.
"So far, that has been our biggest lead run. And I'd love to have a few more of those," Garbers said with a chuckle. "We always say it’s one point at a time and to keep pushing. Anytime you can go on a run is huge, so we'll take what we can get."
Fairmont bounced back from its Set 3 defeat in more ways than one. The Cardinals initially separated from the Saints 9-3 thanks to two more Haycraft aces and another Kloeckner spike. St. James dug all the way back to even things at 14, scoring five of six points off kills by Kaleigh Besel and Adisyn Aden.
Garbers saw the much-needed response. Fastnacht's kill from the right side firmly broke the tie for good. The 10-3 scoring surge was the final touch on Fairmont's second win of 2026. Multiple faces contributed. Adylen Laven, Fastnacht and Kloeckner each had kills, with Montgomery getting the finishing point after booming an opposing dig back to the opposite court.
"I'm proud of them in this fourth game," Garbers said. "It was a battle up and down. We got up and never looked back, which was great to see."
Montgomery finished with 14 kills while Kloeckner had nine. Wubbena and Haycraft each had 16 set assists. Haycraft led Fairmont with five aces. Fitzgerald rallied a team-high 26 digs. Laven notched 12.
Fairmont will take on New Ulm this Thursday for another road contest. The match is set to start at 7:30 p.m.