KERKHOVEN — Reese Johnson’s 500th career kill wasn’t enough to put the Dawson-Boyd volleyball team on top Thursday night as the Blackjacks fell in four sets — 25-22, 22-25, 25-22, 25-21 — against Kerkhoven-Murdock Sunburg. 

Johnson was a prolific hitter for the Blackjacks in the loss, recording 20 kills and six service aces in the match. Kadyn Perkins and Bailey Bothun also contributed with nine and five respectively, as well as a solo block each.

Natyah Ritter led the Blackjacks’ defensive back row with 13 digs in the match while Claire Stratmoen added another 11. Bothun and Johnson finished third and fourth on the team with eight and six digs. Ritter also had a trio of service aces.

Bothun tallied 32 digs on the night.

Dawson-Boyd falls to 2-16 after the loss and will look to avoid its seventh consecutive defeat when it takes on Springfield (2-13) and Hills-Beaver Creek (3-8) in the first day of the Jimmy John’s Tournament at Southwest Minnesota State University tonight at 5 p.m.

No. 6 Canby 3, YME 0

GRANITE FALLS — Accurate and aggressive service from the No. 6 Canby volleyball team paved the way for a Lancer victory on Thursday night in Canby’s 25-18, 25-20, 25-12 sweep of Yellow Medicine East.

As a team, the Lancers finished with 13 service aces with four service errors in the match while YME finished with five service aces. Emily Nelson led Canby with six aces and one error while Jaryn Houseman and Aliyah Rangaard added three each.

Karlie Wollum led the Lancers’ defensive efforts with 12 digs and a solo block while Rangaard added another 11 digs. Brynn Kockelman and Houseman each also added six digs apiece while Grace Hansen and Amya Verhelst combined for another block.

Kockelman finished with 13 set assists in the match, trailing only Emily Nelson’s 20. Finishing off those assists, Wollum tallied 11 kills in the match while Hansen and Karli Weber added eight and five respectively.

Klaira Shackelford was the Sting’s defensive leader with 15 digs while Alana Almich and Lexi Stengel tallied six kills and eight assists respectively.

Canby improves to 15-5 with the win and will host Tracy-Milroy-Balaton (11-10) for its next match on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.

YME falls to 3-13 with the loss and will aim to end its four-match skid when it opens play at the Jimmy John’s Tournament at Southwest Minnesota State against Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg (3-13) and Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop (1-14) tonight at 5 p.m.

Cedar Mountain 3, RRC 0

MORGAN — The defensive efforts of Maia Scheffler and Keena Kosel couldn’t lift the Red Rock Central volleyball team to a win on Thursday night as the Falcons fell in straight sets against Cedar Mountain, 25-21, 25-16, 25-17.

Scheffler’s 13 digs were a team-high while Keena Kosel was right behind her with 11. Tia Donkersloot led the front row defensively with three blocks.

Offensively, Donkersloot also paced the team with six kills while Ally Linder added another five. 

Natasha Erickson finished the match with 21 set assists and tied Abby Evans with two service aces each.

Red Rock Central falls to 7-10 with the loss after having won three of its previous four matches. They’ll look to get back in the win column on Friday when they go on the road to face Wabasso (16-9) at 12:30 p.m.

RCW 3, TMB 1

RENVILLE — Quality back-row play from Teagan Viessman wasn’t enough to keep the Renville County West hitters off the board on Thursday night as the Tracy-Milroy-Balaton volleyball team lost in four sets. The Panthers won the first set 25-17 but dropped each of the next three, 25-22, 25-10, 26-24.

Viessman’s 18 digs were a team-high while Allie Adams gave the team a defensive boost at the net, leading the Panthers in blocks. TMB’s blocking totals were unavailable at the time of print.

Kyli Carter was the Panthers’ offensive leader in the match with 13 kills while Braelynn Kirk added another 11. 

As a team, TMB recorded five service aces from Brianna Duscher, Piper Freeburg, Allison Edwards, Kendra Timmerman and Kirk. 

TMB falls to 11-10 with the loss and will face another tough task on Tuesday when it goes on the road to face No. 6 Canby (15-5) at 7:15 p.m.