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Southwest Christian knocks off league foe Mayer Lutheran in straight sets

By Josh Dungan, SportsEngine, 10/10/19, 4:00PM CDT

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With their victory over the Crusaders, the Stars extended their winning streak to six matches and kept themselves in contention for the top spot in the Minnesota River Conference standings.

Senior outside hitter Madeleine Lemkuil's 12 kills helped Southwest Christian win 25-23, 25-21, 25-23, giving Mayer Lutheran its first conference loss of the season on Thursday night. Photo by Cheryl A. Myers, SportsEngine

Senior outside hitter Madeleine Lemkuil's 12 kills helped Southwest Christian win in three sets 25-23, 25-21, 25-23, giving Mayer Lutheran its first conference loss of the season. Photo by Cheryl A. Myers, SportsEngine

A pivotal second set was the key to Southwest Christian’s 25-21, 25-23, 25-21 sweep of Minnesota River Conference rival Mayer Lutheran in front of a nearly full house at Mayer Lutheran High School on Thursday evening.

“We knew they were going to be a formidable opponent,” said Southwest Christian coach Greg Sayuk. “We knew we were going to have to play well and thankfully we did.”

Coming into the contest, Mayer Lutheran had won eight of the last 11 meetings between the league rivals, including a five-set win on the Stars’ home court last season.

“The [match] last year was really competitive,” said Stars’ senior outside hitter Madeleine Lemkuil. “We worked on a lot of stuff in practice to better ourselves and we put ourselves in good position in the conference because of it.”

The Stars (16-6, 6-1) maintained control early, holding a three-to-five-point lead throughout the first-set victory over the Crusaders, who are ranked No. 1 in the Class 1A coaches’ poll, but winning the second set proved a tougher task for the No. 6-2A Stars. An 11-6 lead at the first timeout of the set turned into a four-point deficit as the Crusaders (19-2, 5-1) rode a renewed and energized bench and crowd to an 18-14 lead.

Sophomore outside hitter Estelle Haugen receives a serve in the second set. Haugen led the Stars with 13 kills at Mayer Lutheran High School on Thursday night.  Photo by Cheryl A. Myers, SportsEngine

Sophomore outside hitter Estelle Haugen receives a serve in the second set. Haugen led the Stars with 13 kills at Mayer Lutheran High School on Thursday night. Photo by Cheryl A. Myers, SportsEngine

First Report

Southwest Christian, ranked No. 6 in the Class 2A coaches’ poll, took an early lead and never relinquished it, handing No. 1-1A Mayer Lutheran a 25-21, 25-23, 25-21 straight-set loss on Thursday evening at Mayer Lutheran High School.

The Stars (16-6, 6-1), led by senior outside hitter Madeleine Lemkuil’s 12 kills and sophomore outside hitter Estelle Haugen’s 13 kills, put themselves in good position to challenge for the top spot in the Minnesota River Conference standings as they’ve been in a three-way race down the stretch with the Crusaders (19-2, 5-1) and No. 7-2A Belle Plaine, which also has one league loss.

Senior middle hitter Olivia Tjernagel, with 10 kills, and sophomore outside hitter Lilly Wachholz’s 12 kills, kept Mayer Lutheran competitive in each set but the Crusaders could never quite come up with a knockout blow.

Olivia Tjernagel (8) hits one of her 10 kills in the match. Mayer Lutheran fell in three sets to conference rival Southwest Christian. Photo by Cheryl A. Myers, SportsEngine

Olivia Tjernagel (8) hits one of her 10 kills in the match. Mayer Lutheran fell in three sets to conference rival Southwest Christian. Photo by Cheryl A. Myers, SportsEngine

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