LEROY — The Cardinals were relentless on their way to a three-game victory over Southland in a Section 1A West Division quarterfinal volleyball match Thursday.

The Cardinals led the majority of the night and never trailed in the first two games as they beat No. 5 Southland 25-20, 25-16, 25-20.

The No. 4 Cardinals (20-10 overall) learned to hit around the Southland blockers, and when they didn’t do that they learned to recover their blocked hit and attack again.

“We practiced hitting around blocks (this week) to get used to it,” L/O hitter Krista Bunne, who had nine kills, said. “It’s always frustrating to not get big hits, but it’s fun to kind of switch it up and score points other ways.”

Southland (14-15 overall) finished with 11 blocks on the front line, but they couldn’t produce many points off of the deflections.

“We just couldn’t keep up with them,” Southland head coach Angie Smith said. “We’d get a block, and they’d cover it and come back. They kept us on our toes and we were a little slow tonight.”

The Rebels jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the final game before the Cards rallied to lead 19-15. Southland scored three points in a row to pull within one, but L/O sophomore Becca Bunne countered with a kill into the back row and an ace serve to put her team back in control.

Chanda Riedemann added nine kills for the Cardinals as she set the pace with five kills in the first game.

“We had to slow it down to find the holes,” Riedemann said. “(Setter Megan Grant) touches the ball pretty much every play and she helps us a lot.”

While their hitting placement was key to the win, the Cards, who will now play No. 1 seeded Faribault Bethlehem Academy (20-7 overall) at Mayo Civic Center Saturday, were also very active in the back row. Krista Bunne racked up 18 digs, Riedemann had 12 digs and Jessica Jennings had 11 digs.

“We’ve been playing good, but it all comes down to how much you want it,” Krista Bunne said. “We’re not going out without a fight.”

L/O head coach Lisa Swenson is hoping her team can put on a good display against FBA.

“This is huge for us and it’s great to get back to the Civic Center,” she said. “We’ll take on FBA and we’ll play the best game we can.”

L/O stats: Chanda Riedemann, 9 kills, 12 digs, 2 blocks; Krista Bunne, 9 kills, 18 digs, 1 ace; Becca Bunne, 6 kills; Megan Grant, 22 assists; Jessica Jennings, 11 digs, 1 ace; Amber Hockens, 1 ace

Southland stats:Madi Schmitz, 12 digs, 15 assists; Kellie Shawback, 4 kills, 2 blocks; Jana Schammel, 4 kills, 3 blocks, 3 digs; Celina Yunker, 9 kills, 4 blocks, 15 digs; Elizabeth May, 1 block, 3 digs; Haley Kirkpatrick, 1 block; Kelli Smith, 11 digs, 1 ace; Lindsey Bottema, 10 assists, 1 ace