“We had our moments of hitting well, and our serving did really good tonight,” St. Mary’s head coach Karri Hoffmann said.

St. Mary’s assistant coach George Schwint said the team also had a strong night covering tips.

“They didn’t have a lot of opportunities to hit tonight, but we really covered the tip really well and that helped us out a lot tonight,” he said.

Morgan Mathiowetz had 14 kills and nine digs for the Knights, while Reese Hoffmann had eight kills and 14 digs. Ella Pollard had seven kills, Natalie Fischer had eight digs and four aces, and Josie Helget had 33 set assists.

Staff photo by Ari Selvey Madelia’s Grace Tatro tips the ball over Sleepy Eye St. Marys’ Kailey Nelson (14) and Ella Pollard (11) during a nonconfernece volleyball match at St. Mary’s High School Thursday.

Makayla Sorenson led the Blackhawks with four kills and eight digs, while Carissa Sorenson had two kills, three blocks and two aces. Lauryn Grev had 11 digs, a block and an ace, and Emmy Johnson had nine digs and an ace. Adrianne Missling had five set assists, three digs and an ace.

St. Mary’s came on strong later in each of the three sets, taking close games and turning them into seven-plus point wins.

“I think we finally got energy,” coach Hoffmann said. “We were talking about that all night. Being more excited, talking more, being louder on the court. We were really talking about that every time.”

Schwint added that the team’s focus in practice was on keeping the energy up.

“We’ve been working on it in practice to finish games,” he said. “We’re up, we’re getting close to the end, let’s finish it out and not let them make it a game.”

Staff photo by Ari Selvey Sleepy Eye St. Marys’ Reese Hoffmann goes for a hit while defended by Madelia’s Grace Tatro (21) and Kellie Koberoski (20) during a nonconference volleyball match at St. Mary’s High School Thursday.

Madelia held the early advantage in Set 1, going up 8-4 thanks in part to a kill by Grace Tatro. St. Mary’s battled back, tying the game on a kill by Helget, then taking a 10-9 lead on a block by Audra Hoffmann. Madelia tied it again at 11 on a block by Grev and a lead on an ace by Carissa Sorenson, but St. Mary’s went on a 7-1 run, led by two aces by Audra Hoffmann and two kills each by Pollard and Reese Hoffman, to go up 18-13.

Madelia called a timeout, but it wasn’t enough to slow the momentum, as Pollard earned two more kills to put St. Mary’s up 23-15. Madelia cut the lead down to 24-17 on a block by Carissa Sorenson, but a block by Pollard and an error ended the set with a St. Mary’s win.

Madelia again started Set 2 on top, with a kill by Kellie Koberoski sparking a 3-0 run. However, St. Mary’s responded with an 8-1 run, led by a pair of aces by Fischer and two kills by Pollard. An ace by Audra Hoffmann put the Knights up 13-8 and forced a Madelia timeout.

Madelia slowed the Knights attack with a kill by Grev and an ace by Missling, but St. Mary’s went on a 6-0 run, where Helget collected two aces, to go up 19-10. Johnson and Makayla Sorenson both had kills and Grev earned an ace, but an ace by Fischer put an end to the set with a 25-14 St. Mary’s victory.

It was St. Mary’s that started hot in Set 3, going up 6-1 after an ace by Reese Hoffmann and a kill by Pollard. However, Madelia tied it back up at 9 with help from aces by Johnson and Carissa Sorenson.

The teams battled back and forth but St. Mary’s finally broke away with a 4-0 run led by two kills by Mathiowetz to go up 20-15 and force a Madelia timeout. Carissa Sorenson got a block coming out of the timeout, but St. Mary’s finished the match with a 5-1 run, with Mathiowetz leading the way with three kills during the run.

St. Mary’s (18-5) hosts Nicollet on Monday, while Madelia (11-15) plays at Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop on Monday.