The Eagles figured things out in time to come back and take down the Buccaneers in five sets, winning 15-25, 25-17, 22-25, 25-21, 15-12 at New Ulm High School.

Calli Koop led the attack for New Ulm with 18 kills, while Karly Meier added six kills and a block. Gracie Baker stayed busy on defense with 23 digs for New Ulm, while setters Lily Poehler and Isabelle Longtin had 14 and 10 set assists, respectively. Longtin also had two aces serves.

After opening the season with a tough 3-0 loss at Belle Plaine on Tuesday, the Eagles were looking to bounce back in their home opener with the Bucs. It took the Eagles some time to get comfortable Friday, and while there were still some things to clean up, Eagles head coach Christine Skoglund was overall happy with her team’s ability to enforce their game plan.

“We knew we had to serve aggressively for Blue Earth and we also had to have really good vision on defense,” she said. “At times we did, but we also needed to make sure that we had consecutive points and once we started doing that, Set 2, then 4 and 5, that was the reason. We had focus, we had better vision on defense and then we had to serve aggressively. That was our game plan tonight.”

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau From left to right, New Ulm Eagles’ Keira Sullivan, Karly Meier and Lily Poehler celebrate after a block by Meier in the fourth set of New Ulm’s nonconference volleyball match with Blue Earth Area on Friday night at New Ulm High School. Also joining in the celebration from the sidelines is New Ulm’s Isabelle Longtin (11).

After dropping a close third set, the Eagles got a 5-0 run early in the fourth set that ended with a block by Meier and an ace by Lauren Schmiesing to lead 8-3. The Bucs fell behind by as much as 6, 12-6, after a kill from Poehler, but they chipped away at their deficit and trailed 20-19 late after an ace from Cassandra Hagedorn. Not wanting the night to end on a sour note, the Eagles got the next 3 points to pull ahead and ultimately took advantage of a BEA error to win the set.

With a 3-0 lead to open the fifth set, the Eagles were again the aggressors early on. A kill by Keira Sullivan gave the Eagles an 8-3 lead. The Bucs ended up getting a 5-0 run, tying it on a kill from Taylor Ripley, to force a New Ulm timeout.

Tied at 11-all moments later, New Ulm got a couple of late blocks, a kill from Meier and a BEA error to take the set and match.

New Ulm started the first set with a 3-0 lead thanks to a pair of kills by Koop and a BEA error, but the Bucs quickly answered back to take the lead. After an ace serve from Longtin in the middle of the set had New Ulm down 16-14, the Bucs put the set away with a 9-1 run.

New Ulm started placing the ball better in Set 2 and capitalized on five early BEA errors for a 6-0 lead. A 4-0 run midway through the set that featured a kill from Koop and an ace from Poehler made it 18-9 New Ulm. BEA got within 6 after that, but the Eagles tied the match up on a set-ending kill from Avarey Sellner.

The Eagles had their chances to take the third set, but New Ulm errors and a late attack by BEA put the set away late. The narrow loss in the third set only refueled the Eagles, however.

“I had to rotate players in and out tonight to give us some good chemistry and bring our energy up, which was good for us,” Skoglund said. “We always say the strength is in our team. We’ll work with our middles on our days off, but we go right to Rochester [Saturday].”

The Eagles are at a tournament in Rochester on Saturday.