Knights sweep Wolverines

Published 10:03 pm Monday, September 21, 2015

Alden-Conger's Mikenna Erickson digs the ball Monday against Glenville-Emmons at Alden. — Micah Bader/Albert Lea Tribune

Alden-Conger’s Mikenna Erickson digs the ball Monday against Glenville-Emmons at Alden. — Micah Bader/Albert Lea Tribune

ALDEN — In a nonconference area battle, the Alden-Conger volleyball team broke .500, while Glenville-Emmons remained in search of its first win.

The Knights (5-4, 2-0 Valley) swept the Wolverines (0-7, 0-6 Southeast) 3-0 Monday at Alden.

“It’s always fun to play Glenville because they’re so close to us,” said Knights coach Jolene Bute.

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Game scores were 25-9, 25-8 and 25-11.

Erika Bute led Alden-Conger with 15 assists, which pushed the freshman’s varsity career total eight shy of 1,000. She will look to pass the milestone as the Knights host Martin County West (7-1, 3-0 Valley) at 7:30 p.m. today.

After starting the season 4-0, Martin County West went 3-1 to finish third out of 12 teams Saturday at the Mankato West Tournament.

Knights middle hitter Elynn Johnson had a game-high six digs against the Wolverines. Abby Reyerson led Alden-Conger with seven digs.

Glenville-Emmons’ defense was led by Katelyn Nelson, who totaled a game-high 19 digs. Lani Poole added nine digs.

“I thought we had some good digs today,” said Wolverines coach Lisa Ziebell. “The girls just need confidence and to believe in each other.”

In Game 1, Alden-Conger built an 18-8 lead and finished with a 7-1 run that was capped with a kill by Johnson.

The Knights led 20-7 in Game 2 after one of Megan Linn’s six ace serves, and Alden-Conger scored its 25th point on a missed serve by Glenville-Emmons.

In Game 3, the Wolverines jumped out to a 5-0 lead behind the serving of Kayla Gerber. However, the Knights countered with a 16-1 run, and a kill by Madison Erickson sealed the comeback win.

Jolene Bute said reserves Mallory Geesman, Mikenna Erickson and Trinity Newman stepped up.

Alden-Conger began the season with losses at NRHEG and Medford but rebounded by sweeping Cleveland and going 2-2 at the Hayfield Tournament on Sept. 12.

The Knights are one of three undefeated teams in the 11-team Valley Conference standings. St. Clair is 2-0, and Martin County West is 3-0.

Glenville-Emmons is in search of its first win since the 2014 season opener against Hope Lutheran.

Next, the Wolverines will play at 7:15 p.m. today at Lyle/Pacelli (9-8, 5-2 Southeast Conference). The Athletics started the season 5-1, lost all four games at the Hayfield Tournament and have gone 4-3 since then.