Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: St. Edmond’s Chloe Palmer hits the ball over the net against Colo-Nesco on Monday night during a Class 1A regional volleyball match in the Gael gym. For more photos, visit CU.messengernews.net

The St. Edmond volleyball team was in control from the start here Monday night vs. Colo-Nesco.

Eden Horn recorded 16 kills, Abby Huss had 21 assists and Ava Underberg added seven kills as the Gaels easily advanced with a sweep over the Royals.

Scores were 25-6, 25-8 and 25-1.

St. Edmond (9-19 overall) will now face AGWSR back here inside the Gael gym in a Class 1A, Region 8 quarterfinal on Wednesday.

“We talked about coming right out and starting fast,” SEHS head coach Lindsay Heffernan said. “No matter who you are going again, you have to compete and you have to challenge yourself each and every point.

“I thought we did a great job of doing just that, working on what we could control and taking care of business.”

The Gaels rattled off 14 of the first 17 points of the match, as Huss would go on to push the lead to 19-4 with three consecutive aces. As a team, St. Edmond recorded 24 aces, led by nine from Ava Andrew.

Chloe Palmer had five kills and five aces, Faith Shirbroun recorded three kills with two aces and Horn had three blocks. Underberg also had a block.

“Abby did great,” Heffernan said. “She’s coming off a little sickness, but she did a tremendous job for us. Eden really swung hard, which is so fun to see. She’s a great player with an incredible volleyball IQ.

“The girls were really locked in from the start and played a great match.”

St. Edmond tallied 12 aces in the opening set alone against just two service errors. Huss had 10 assists and Underberg four kills. Palmer and Horn each recorded three kills.

After allowing the Royals (2-22) to score the first point of the second set, the Gaels rattled off 13 of the next 15 to once again take charge. Huss dished out 11 assists, with Horn registering seven kills.

“We played a very crisp match,” Heffernan said. “Attention to detail was our key going in, and I thought our focus was good.

“No matter who is on the other side of the net, you still have to execute. I thought we really did that throughout the match.”

In the third game, Ava Andrew served the first 22 points, with seven of those being aces. Horn had six more kills.

St. Edmond led 22-0 before surrendering a point.

Sophomore sister Olivia Andrew came on and finished off the match with back-to-back aces on her first two serves of the evening.

Freshman Rihanna Myers had five assists during the third set in relief of Huss.

With the win, St. Edmond has now recorded its most victories in a three-year span since the start of the Bound-era, which dates back to 2007. They have prevailed in 37 matches during that time.

AGWSR (7-29) advanced with a sweep over Collins-Maxwell by scores of 25-14, 25-10 and 25-13 on Monday.