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Gaels drop close match

The St. Edmond volleyball team experienced their first five-game match of the season here Tuesday night against North Central Conference rival Clear Lake.

After battling back in the fifth set several times, the Gaels were unable to put together a final rally.

Scores were 19-25, 25-23, 25-21, 22-25 and 18-16.

Hannah Huss had a team-high 19 kills and added eight serving aces, while Megan Flattery recorded eight kills and four blocks for St. Edmond (5-9 overall, 0-3 in NCC). The Lions (3-7, 0-4) were led by Emily Snelling’s 19 kills and Jessica Faber’s 13.

“Our girls played so hard,” SEHS head coach Dee Huss said. “They could have gotten down on themselves (in the fourth set), but they didn’t. Instead, they just kept battling. We put ourselves in several bad positions, but we kept fighting out of them.

“We obviously wanted that ‘W,’ especially being a league match, but we’ll just keep plugging along and work to get better each time out.”

The Gaels came out strong, scoring 12 of the first 20 points. Hannah Huss had four kills and three of her aces in that opening set alone, including the final point.

“Hannah had an outstanding night,” Huss said. “But so didn’t Megan and every single girl that went out there. They really played great as a team.”

In the second, Clear Lake rallied out of a 13-10 deficit with a 8-4 run, scoring the final three points to even it at 1-all. They dominated the third with a seven-point rally.

Huss again found her groove in the fourth with St. Edmond’s backs against the wall, reeling off two aces after a strong kill. The Gaels appeared to win the set on an out-call, but the point was ruled a replay before the Lions hit the ball out again.

“That was really a great fourth set for us,” Huss said. “We moved to the ball and we found the openings. Clear Lake really made us fight for it and I know this kind of experience will only help us get better moving forward.”

Down 8-4 in the fifth, Jacque Oberg tallied a pair of back-to-back aces to give St. Edmond a 9-8 lead. The Lions answered with three straight points before the Gaels went back up 14-13.

The two sides exchanged points, but it was Faber who put down two straight kills before Snelling ended it.

Madi Engels had four kills and Livi Huss three kills and four aces for St. Edmond. Erin Flattery added three kills and two blocks, with Macey Mason contributing two aces.

Next up for the Gaels is another home date, as they host Eagle Grove Thursday night.

“We had an incredible crowd (vs. Clear Lake),” Huss said. “Hopefully, we can have that again and we can deliver the win (on Thursday).”

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