Staff photo by Steve Muscatello New Ulm Cathedral’s Mary Herzog blocks a shot from Cleveland’s Joie Weller Tuesday at CHS.

NEW ULM — New Ulm Cathedral needed five sets to dispose of Cleveland 26-24, 25, 17, 15-25, 11-25 and 17-15 on Tuesday in a nonconference volleyball match. The Greyhounds improved to 2-0 to start the season.

The Greyhounds were able to take advantage of some Cleveland miscues and get some key spikes and blocks to earn a 7-2 lead in the fifth set.

Cleveland was tenacious and it kept clawing back earning points on Greyhound unforced errors, good defense and by making good contact with the ball when necessary.

The result was the Clippers tying it up at 15-apiece. Cleveland earned the tie when Cathedral knocked the ball out of bounds. The Clippers never held an advantage in the final set.

Cathedral regained the lead on a block at the net. The winning point came when a Cleveland player hit the ball into the net to give the Greyhounds the win.

The night started out well for the Greyhounds as they won the first two sets. Cleveland refused to quit and it won the next two forcing the fifth and deciding one.

The momentum shifted after Cleveland had an early 3-2 lead in the second set. Cathedral tied it at 4-apiece. The Greyhounds held the Clippers at bay by taking advantage of Clipper mistakes, playing good defense and getting points when needed.

The first set was a nail-bitter with there being six ties and several lead changes. The biggest lead was 20-13 by the Greyhounds. Cleveland led 24-23 when Cathedral was able to score the next three points to win the set.

“We started to struggle. We let one error lead to more. It’s a confidence thing, but we did take a lot of positives away from tonight’s match,” Cathedral head coach Becky Wilfahrt said.

The Greyhounds held a 9-7 lead in the third set. Cleveland took the lead of 11-10 when a Greyhound hit the ball out of bounds. Cleveland picked up the momentum from there and won the set 25-15.

Cleveland carried it into the fourth set building a 10-3 advantage. Cathedral didn’t hold a lead in that set. The Clippers used some soft drops over the net with strong spikes and taking advantage of Greyhound errors.

“We came out fresh (in the fifth set) and we kept fighting hard. We need to remember to take it one play at a time” Wilfahrt said.

Sarah Mohr had 11 kills, five block kills and 30 digs. Karlie Gieseke had 40 set assists and 14 digs while Mary Herzog had 15 kills. Maggie Fliszar had 15 kills and 18 digs.

The Greyhounds (2-0) will host Minnesota Valley Lutheran (1-0) on Sept. 4.