Staff photo by Steve Muscatello New Ulm’s Elizabeth Wolkow plays the ball near the net during the Eagles match against Waseca Thursday at New Ulm High School. For more photos of this event go to cu.nujournal.com

NEW ULM — Waseca picked up its second victory over New Ulm this season on Thursday in Big South Conference volleyball action.

The Blue Jays (8-10, 5-3) defeated the Eagles (2-16, 0-9) 25-22, 25-22, 23-25, 25-13.

Waseca picked up its fifth win in a row, while New Ulm dropped its fourth straight.

New Ulm showed plenty of resiliency trying to avenge their earlier sweep loss this year to Waseca on Sept. 21. Despite the loss, Eagles coach Zach Hansen was proud of the fight his team showed.

“What I liked seeing tonight was our fight,” Hansen said. “We were right there in the first three sets. A couple points that go our way and not theirs — it’s a different looking ball game. We played hard tonight, played well and I liked the energy in the gym.”

New Ulm went up 9-5 early on in Set 1, which forced a Waseca timeout. After a kill by Ashlyn Donner and an ace by Ellie Bute, New Ulm went up 13-9.

Waseca went on a 10-2 run, though, to lead 15-13 and force a New Ulm timeout. The Eagles fought back to tie it at 20-20 and 22-22, but the Blue Jays took the final 3 points to win the first set.

New Ulm led 9-8 in Set 2 early on, but a 6-1 run by Waseca gave the Blue Jays a 14-10 lead. The Eagles had a comeback of their own in store, though.

Trailing 19-15, the Eagles took 6 straight points to lead 21-19. Waseca held off the Eagles a second time, however, and won the second set.

The Blue Jays had an early 12-4 lead in Set 3 before a 4-0 Eagles’ run that was capped off with back-to-back kills from Olivia Wick made the score 12-8. New Ulm brought its deficit to 18-17 after a kill by Madeline Gag and a Waseca hitting error.

New Ulm ended up taking Set 3 after back-to-back Waseca errors.

The New Ulm energy was high after the third set, but Waseca quickly jumped out to a 12-6 lead in Set 4. New Ulm brought its deficit to 14-12, but Waseca went on an 11-2 run to close out the fourth and final set.

Gag had eight kills and eight blocks for the Eagles, while Sarah Longtin added 15 digs. Izzie Wolkow led in set assists with 12.

The Eagles host Marshall next for a 7:15 p.m. nonconference matchup on Monday.