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With a survive and advance mentality, a victory for the St. Edmond volleyball team in the first round of regional action didn't have to be pretty.

Even though the Gaels weren't at their best, they were able to push through to the Class 2A regional quarterfinal round after knocking off South Hamilton here Tuesday in four games.

St. Edmond (12-16 overall) ousted South Hamilton (6-13), 25-17, 18-25, 25-16 and 25-19. St. Edmond will now move on to face Prairie Valley on Tuesday, Oct. 27. The Warriors bounced Ogden last night.

"We're definitely glad to come away with a win, but at the same time, it could have been a better performance," said first-year SEHS head coach John Johnson. "It's great to move on, but we didn't play at the level we wanted to so there is no reason to be overly-satisfied.''

For the first game, Johnson saw the performance he was looking for and St. Edmond was able to pull away. The Gaels went on 15-2 run to take a decisive advantage after being tied up at nine each.

The Gaels had a five point lead at 12-7 in the second game, but the tide turned to the favor of South Hamilton from that point. Alicen Wintermote gave the Hawks their first lead at 15-14.

South Hamilton was able to capitalize on the Gaels' inability to keep the ball in-bounds and prevailed 25-18 to knot the contest at 1-1.

"It's tough to be consistent in volleyball, but we just made too many unaggressive plays in the second game," said Johnson. "The girls didn't play their best, but they responded and did enough to win."

St. Edmond jumped out to an early 6-2 advantage in the third game and held a steady edge the rest of the way. Senior Alison Nagel recorded an ace for the Gaels to make the score 16-13 and jump-start a surge that put the home team on top. Steffanie Boeckman also notched an ace to force match point, and St. Edmond took the upper-hand in games at 2-1.

"The third game got a little better for us," said Johnson. "We made some very nice scramble plays for the entire contest and that really helped out."

The Gaels went up 5-0 in the fourth game and appeared to be on their way to cruising to the win, but the Hawks battled back and pulled within 18-16.

Nagel gave SEHS some breathing room with two kills, and a point from senior Kaitlyn Barrett drew the Gaels closer to victory.

Emma Drzycimski made a play at the net to score and force match point, where Lexi Peed was able to score on the South Hamilton defense and seal the win.

"It has been a learning process for us, and ultimately, a win at this level is something to be proud of," said Johnson. "The girls made some big plays when it really mattered."

Nagel led the Gaels with 10 kills and four blocks. Kaitlyn Barrett and Aubreigh Yetmar each had four kills as well. Mallory Kesterson paced the Gaels on serving as well.

The Gaels face the Warriors (15-17) next week. St. Edmond defeated Prairie Valley twice in the regular season.

"Prairie Valley is very similar to us, and we had to play very well to beat them," said Johnson. "But that was early in the season and both of us are different now. It should be a battle."

Contact Brady Johnson at (515) 573-2141 or by e-mail at sports@messengernews.net