Staff photo by Travis Rosenau
New Ulm High School’s Graceyn Nesje (3) bumps the ball during the Eagles’ final regular season matchup at NUHS on Thursday against Worthington.

NEW ULM — The New Ulm High School volleyball team ended its regular season on Thursday with some nice momentum heading into next week’s Section 2AAA playoffs.

The Eagles held off Worthington 25-20, 20-25, 25-23, 25-23 in Section 2AAA action at NUHS.

The Eagles (14-9) had to battle for every point throughout the match as both teams looked to make one final impression before playoff seedings got released on Friday.

The Trojans (15-14) took an early lead away from the Eagles in the first set on a 3-0 run to lead 10-8, but the Eagles got a kill from Afton Hulke and back-to-back aces from Natalie Yackley to go back ahead 11-10.

Down 17-12 at one point, the Eagles put together a late 7-0 run that was capped off on a kill by Madalyn O’Connor to lead 21-18. The Trojans grabbed a pair of points after that before Laura Bertrang ended the set with a block for a 1-0 New Ulm match lead.

After the Eagles led 2-1 early in Set 2, the Trojans quickly took the lead and held it from there out, stretching their lead to 9 later in the set. The Eagles cut the deficit to 24-20 late, but Worthington ended the set on a kill by Tarren Spartz.

The Eagles controlled the third set early, getting an 11-5 lead to force a Trojans timeout. The Trojans eventually closed the distance in the set and tied it at 22-all on back-to-back aces by Spartz. The Eagles held their ground, though, and ended the set on a kill from O’Connor.

The fourth set remained close until the Eagles pulled ahead 22-17 late after back-to-back aces by Emma Gieseke and a Worthington attack error. Worthington got within a point after that, but a Bertrang block ended the set and match.

No official stats were available after the match.

The Eagles begin playoff action on Wednesday.