By JIM LUTGENS

Sports Editor

For the fifth year in a row, the NRHEG High School volleyball team faced arch-rival Waterville-Elysian-Morristown in the section tournament.

If you’ve been paying attention the last four years, you probably can guess what happened last Thursday when the teams met in the sub-section quarterfinals at Mankato East High School. Yes, the Buccaneers again prevailed, 3-0, winning 26-24, 25-18 and 25-5.

“This was a tough loss for the Panthers,” said NRHEG coach Ashley Tolzman. “They started out strong in the first set. You could see that they came ready to play. They were communicating well and covering the court.”

Unfortunately, it did not continue.

“The second set started out rough,” explained Tolzman. “We made a few mistakes and got in our heads and stopped talking. They were able to get past it and fight to make a comeback and make the score closer.”

Then everything fell apart.

“In the third set, all communication stopped and frustration took over,” said Tolzman. “WEM went on two long runs with serves that we just couldn’t return.”

Individually for the Panthers: Gabby Schlaak 7 kills, 1 block, 14 digs; Camryn VanMaldeghem 1 block; Izzy Stadheim 1 dig; Elsie Schultz 15 digs; Tayler Schmidt 7 kills, 19 digs; Hallie Schultz 26 set assists, 1 kill, 12 blocks, 15 digs; Keira Lenort 4 kills, 8 blocks; Madi Murray 11 kills, 12 blocks, 2 digs; Chloe Stork 5 blocks; Faith Nielsen 1 assist, 19 digs.

The Panthers completed their first season with Tolzman as head coach. The Panthers graduate seniors Elsie Schultz, Hallie Schultz, Erin Peterson, Sydney Lewer, Stadheim, Schmidt, Lenort, Murray and Nielsen.