Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Abby Lawler of St. Edmond hits the ball over the net earlier this month. The Gaels eliminated Bishop Garrigan on Wednesday.

ALGONA — The St. Edmond volleyball team pushed all the right buttons here Wednesday night, eliminating rival Bishop Garrigan while advancing to the Class 1A regional semifinals in the process.

Scores were 17-25, 25-23, 25-17 and 26-24.

The Gaels (9-24 overall) will now travel to No. 8 AGWSR (17-23) on Monday. The Cougars knocked off Rockford to move on. The winner of that faces either Newell-Fonda (19-8) or Remsen St. Mary’s (20-8) next Wednesday for a spot in the state tournament.

During the regular season, the Golden Bears took both matches from St. Edmond in tournaments, winning in three each time. Bishop Garrigan had won 10 of 11 entering the night and 21 of the last 30 meetings overall between the two former North Central Conference foes.

After battling to a 9-9 tie early in the pivotal third set, the Gaels went on a 10-2 run to take control as Ava Underberg ended the set with an emphatic kill.

“It was so nice we were able to take care of it in the fourth,” SEHS head coach John Johnson said. “The girls just really came out after the first set and were locked in. We passed better, kept our serve-receive strong and started attacking.

“Being able to finish that fourth set off when it was tight and battling through the match points showed the composure of the kids and confidence they have gained.”

Sasha Hess started the fourth with an ace, sparking a 7-3 run for St. Edmond. The Golden Bears battled back with the two exchanging points until senior Abby Lawler registered a kill to make it 25-24.

A hitting error by Garrigan ended the match on the next point, setting off a celebration between Gael players and coaches on the court.

“That third set was really good for us,” Johnson said. “We got some nice blocks and were able to change what they were doing. Ansley (Oswald) and Ava really set the tone at the net.”

St. Edmond is in the regional semifinal round for the first time since 2017. They played AGWSR in the first round of the 2019 regional tournament, falling at home.

AGWSR topped Rockford in straight sets, 25-19, 25-20, 25-20. The Cougars have won seven of their last 10.

Bishop Garrigan (8-22) had reached four consecutive regional finals behind the duo of current Iowa State basketball player Audi Crooks and Truman State basketball player Molly Joyce.

This was the final match for Golden Bear seniors Violet Bode, Avery Lichter, Kyra Deike, Reagan Murphy, Alaina Casey and Madelyn Bronk.

Freshman Graclyn Eastman led Garrigan with 14 kills while Emmi Bartolo, Lichter and Zoe Montag all had seven each. Sacha Alesch recorded 33 assists and Bode had 20 digs.