Brian Bell/Eagle Herald Photo NIAGARA’S JASMINE RACINE attempts to hit the ball past Lianna Baxter (24) of St. Thomas Aquinas Thursday night in an M & O Conference volleyball match.

MARINETTE, Wis. — The last time St. Thomas Aquinas Academy matched up against Niagara, the two teams battled before the Lady Badgers prevailed 3-1 in four games. Unfortunately for the Cavalettes, they weren’t able to build off of that last meeting as Niagara won in a 3-0 sweep (25-19, 25-12, 25-20) on Thursday night.

“Hats off to Niagara. We were really looking forward to another competition with them after we played them so well at the end of a triangular at their place and we’ve improved so much this year that we were hoping to put up a tougher attack, but we’re so proud of the girls,” STAA coach Katie Benson said.

While STAA may have gotten swept, the scores were not indicative of how the night went. Both squads were pushed to the limits on more than one occasion during long volleys and fielding hard hits, but the Cavvies being a younger team against a more experience Niagara lineup was the difference maker in the end.

“Niagara makes you earn everything and as a younger team, learning how to fight every point and then take points instead of them being given to you is huge for us, and Niagara doesn’t give anything away,” STAA coach James Benson said. “Volleyball is learning how to capitalize on opportunities and then how to turn things around.”

The Lady Badgers took a lead in the first game and held it throughout despite STAA’s best efforts at making a run. Sophomore Lianna Baxter slammed down a kill to get the score 12-10 but Niagara was able to regain possession on the next serve and extend its lead.

STAA wouldn’t go away as another kill from Baxter got the score to 21-18, but a kill from Niagara’s Jessica Oratch and two straight aces from Morgan Borchardt got the score to 24-18. The Cavalettes got the ball back on a missed serve from Borchardt but STAA served long on its next chance and the game ended with the score 25-19.

Game 2 was one to forget for STAA as Niagara took control from the start and never let up, leading by ten (21-11) at its peak. The Cavalettes tried to get back in the game as senior Halle Beranek served for an ace to get the score at 21-14, but Niagara regained the serve and a kill from Oratch sealed the win to give the Lady Badgers a 2-0 series lead.

“My team came to play tonight,” Niagara coach Carol St. Arnauld said. “We made some adjustments and the kids responded. STAA is a good hustling team, but we met their play with our own hustling efforts. There were some great volleys that we were able to capitalize on, and overall I’m proud of how the team accepted the necessary changes and played to their potential.”

The Cavalettes never gave up despite trailing for much of the way the first two games and were able to stick with Niagara early on.

Junior Livia Benson started the game off with an ace but Niagara went on a little run afterwards and after Baxter’s kill the score was 6-3 in favor of the Lady Badgers.

STAA clawed its way back in the game, cutting the deficit to 8-6 and tying it at eight before the Lady Badgers took back the serve with a 9-8 lead and ballooned it 13-8 thanks to Jayden Payette’s four-point service run.

Niagara kept adding onto its lead until STAA took a timeout with the score at 18-10 and the team came alive trailing 21-11.

Baxter came up with a huge block to cut the deficit to 21-15 and by the time the serve changed hands again, Niagara’s lead was trimmed down to 22-19 thanks to an eight-point service run. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough as STAA took a timeout trailing 24-20 and the Lady Badgers senior Jasmine Racine ended the match with a hard kill.

“What I’m really excited about is how we didn’t quit in the third game. We got down big and came back and played strong,” James Benson said. “Niagara subbed a couple people in and we forced them to set them back out pretty quick because we roared back. We’re right there. We’re excited about the next three games we have. We still have a lot to play for in the conference with some winnable games left and I think we could be dangerous in the tournament.”

Baxter led STAA (9-9 overall, 6-6 M&O) with 16 kills, freshman Addison Pristelski and Katie Knox had three each and junior Livia Benson had a team-high nine assists.

For Niagara (8-8, 7-4), Borchardt had 28 assists to lead the team; Racine and Alyssa Cretton had 10 kills each and Racine added a team-high 18 digs.

Niagara hosts Oneida Nation on Tuesday for their final home match of the regular season. Thursday, the Lady Badgers travel to Lena for a triangular match with host Lena and Gillett.