Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Sleepy Eye St. Marys’ Reese Hoffmann (6) hits the ball during a Section 2A, South Subsection Volleyball Tournament semifinals match with Madelia on Thursday night at St. Peter High School.

ST. PETER — After overcoming early jitters and a 10-point deficit in the opening set of a South Subsection Volleyball Tournament semifinals match with Madelia on Thursday, the Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s Knights stormed past the Blackhawks for a 25-21, 25-19, 25-18 sweep at St. Peter High School.

The Knights (15-11-1) will next take on second-seeded Sleepy Eye in a Halloween showdown at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the South Subsection finals at Mankato East High School.

The top-seeded Knights were led by Reese Hoffmann’s eight kills and 19 digs, while Jenica Schroepfer had eight kills and 16 digs and Josie Helget had 33 set assists, 13 digs and four aces. The balanced attack of the Knights also saw Amelia Schwartz pick up five kills, Kailey Nelson and Maria Schwartz each have four kills and Natalie Fischer finish with three kills and 10 digs.

Addie Hoffmann added 19 digs to shore up the Knights’ defense.

Ashlynn Sweet had six kills and three aces for fourth-seeded Madelia (13-16), while Katherine DeVlaeminck had four kills and two blocks. Lauryn Grev and Corban Tatro each added three kills for the Blackhawks, while Ashley Sorenson had 13 set assists and 12 digs and Jada Taylor had 14 digs.

Madelia looked firmly in control in the first set after back-to-back aces by Sweet had her squad up 10-2 and forced a Knights timeout, but things took a turn moments later. With Madelia up 13-3, the Knights got a 9-0 run that was capped off on an ace by Helget to trail 13-12.

After a kill by DeVlaeminck had Madelia up 16-14, the Knights took the lead for good after a 7-0 run ended with a block by Amelia Schwartz and a 21-16 Knights lead.

“I think a lot of it was, we just came out nervous,” Knights head coach Karri Hoffmann said. “We’re a young team, a lot of sophomores and freshmen, so I think they just came out really nervous and once we kind of were, like, ‘OK, relax, play our game,’ we started talking more and our hitters started hitting better and from there on we had the momentum, we had the positivity and that’s what kept us in the game.”

Reese Hoffmann, a sophomore, ended the first set with a kill. She later ended up ending the match also with a kill from the back row.

Despite some bumps in the road this season for the young Knights, a team that features six sophomores and three freshmen, Reese Hoffmann said the team is in playoff mode.

“We fight together as a team,” Reese Hoffmann said. “We had some games … we were losing seven games in a row, but now that it’s playoffs, we’re, like, ‘OK, we really need to go,’ and I feel like we were out there and we fought because we deserve it.”

Madelia shook off the rusty finish to the first set by taking an early 7-3 lead in Set 2, but the Knights again stormed back to tie it at 7-all on a kill by Fischer. The Blackhawks led 13-11 after blocks by DeVlaeminck and Sorenson, but a 7-1 run had the Knights back in front 18-14.

The Knights never lost the lead after that, ending the set on a kill by Fischer.

The Knights never trailed in Set 3 and led 16-6 after kills by Maria Schwartz and Amelia Schwartz. Madelia cut the deficit to 19-15 after a kill from Tatro, but that was as close as it got from there out as the Knights ended the match with Reese Hoffmann’s kill.

From being in trouble to being in control Thursday, the Knights are excited and will have a nice confidence boost heading into the South Subsection finals next week.

“It is so exciting to be part of such a good team and people that want to win and people that want to dominate,” Reese Hoffmann said.