Staff photo by Ari Selvey Minnesota Valley Lutheran’s Kerigan Brau bumps the ball during a nonconference home volleyball match with Sibley East on Monday at MVL High School in New Ulm.

NEW ULM — Minnesota Valley Lutheran’s Kerigan Brau earned her 1,000th career set assist Monday night against Sibley East with an assist to freshman and Arlington native Jenna Bates in a nonconference volleyball match.

“It’s a goal that my coach had me pushing for since the beginning of the season,” Brau said. “So its pretty much just what I’ve been working on all season. And to have it with a freshman was really special, especially since she’s from Arlington, because that’s who we were playing. That was really fun. I really couldn’t have done it without my team, because I need all of them. Good pass, good set. I thank them, not just me.”

Unfortunately the achievement did not come with a win for the Chargers, as the Wolverines defeated them 21-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-18.

Brau did have 33 set assists along with eight digs and two kills for MVL, while Mackenzie Merseth had 14 kills and 18 digs. Gabbie Bleick had nine kills and 14 digs, while Bates had five kills, four digs, three aces and two blocks.

MVL had a strong start to the first set, going up 4-1 early. Sibley East battled back to a 7-7 tie, but MVL went on a 9-4 run with an ace by Merseth giving them a 16-11 lead. MVL held on to win the game 25-21 on a kill by Bleick.

Sibley East started out strong in the second set, maintaining a lead behind kills by Rachelle Wear and Brianna Kettner, but MVL battled to tie the game at 6 before taking a 12-8 lead with a pair of kills by Merseth. A few serves later, Brau got her milestone assist to Bates to go up 17-14. However, Sibley East went on a 9-1 run to force an MVL timeout. Sibley East went on to win the set 25-22.

Sibley East’s offense continued to run in Set 3, with strong showings from a trio of hitters in Wear, Kettner and Karcyn Dose. The Wolverines won the third set 25-22 and continued the momentum into Set 4, winning the match on a kill by Dose.

MVL (9-14) has their last regular season game at home against Nicollet on Tuesday before the Section 2AA playoffs begin Thursday with a road game at Waseca.

“Tomorrow I think we can get a win,” Brau said. “We play Waseca first round, and last time we didn’t play them our best, but I think we can beat them this time, get redemption.”