Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Sleepy Eye St. Marys’ Jaci Domeier (4) celebrates after a kill during a Tomahawk Conference volleyball match with Cedar Mountain on Thursday at St. Mary’s High School.

SLEEPY EYE — It may only be a few weeks into the season, but Thursday night’s Tomahawk Conference volleyball match between Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s and Cedar Mountain had all the makings of a playoff battle.

With a conference win on the line and homecoming week energy, the Knights pulled out a five-set win over Cedar Mountain 21-25, 25-18, 25-23, 18-25, 15-11.

The Knights (9-1, 3-0) and Cougars (7-2, 1-1) are just two early-season favorites in what appears to be a very deep conference. After Thursday’s slate of Tomahawk Conference matches finished, St. Mary’s found itself alone with Sleepy Eye Public as the only teams without a conference loss so far.

Jaci Domeier led the Knights with 21 kills, 17 digs, four blocks and three ace serves. She also closed out the fifth set with back-to-back kills to give the Knights the match win.

“I feel like we shouldn’t take this as if we’re going to win every game just because we beat Cedar Mountain,” Domeier said. “I think we have to fight to win every game.”

While Domeier had more than one clutch attack Thursday, she was not the only one doing damage for the Knights. Bella Hoffmann had a strong all-around game with 33 set assists, 21 digs and 11 kills, while Allie Labat had 22 set assists, 18 digs and 11 kills.

Jenica Schroepfer added 20 digs and seven kills for the Knights.

After finishing second on the team last season in kills behind Madison Mathiowetz, Domeier has a chance to be the Knights’ go-to option this year on offense. That doesn’t mean she believes she has to be, however.

“I’m just going out there and hitting it,” Domeier said. “I don’t feel I’m the top hitter, I feel like everyone is a really good hitter and I just go out and hit it.”

The Cougars were led by Nadia Meyers’ 39 set assists and eight kills, while Hailey Hollar had 19 kills and 26 digs. Teresa Larsen also had a nice night at the net for the Cougars with 11 kills and three blocks.

The Cougars had the early momentum after a kill from Meyers gave her squad the first set. But the Knights took the next two sets behind an improved defense.

“I think our defense really did a nice job, all six girls,” Knights head coach Jen Walter said. “We were single blocking and dropping off girls here to cover those tips. We had a good feel of what they were going to bring in here tonight, the girls knew this team really well I felt like, too, and could kind of anticipate what each girl was going to bring to the table from Cedar Mountain. So I think that part of it — knowing what we were going to see — really made a big difference for us.”

The Cougars controlled most of the fourth set, with the Knights’ last lead coming after a block from Domeier to make the score 4-2. After that, the Cougars cruised and finished the set on a Meyers-to-Larsen kill to force the fifth set.

Domeier and Hoffmann took control for the Knights in the fifth set to send the homecoming crowd home happy.

While the outcome wasn’t what Cedar Mountain wanted, Cougars head coach Beth Hill said there’s plenty of games to be played this season and the conference title is still up for grabs.

“There’s tons of opportunities,” Cougars head coach Beth Hill said. “This is a good opportunity for us to see what we’re capable of and see what we can work on. But it’s definitely still ours for the taking.”

The Knights host Minnesota Valley Lutheran for a conference match Tuesday night, while Cedar Mountain hosts Sleepy Eye Public for a nonconference homecoming match Monday night.