(Sentinel photo by Bethany Kroeze) RSM libero Emily Klein digs up a hit against the West Sioux Falcons Thursday night in Hawarden. [Click to enlarge]

West Sioux proved their spot in the rankings was no fluke as they beat Remsen St. Mary's in War Eagle Conference play 3-0 on Thursday evening in Hawarden.

The Falcons, now ranked No. 13 in Class 2A by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union, used the home crowd to race to a 25-13 win in the first game to up 1-0.

The Hawks struggled a little bit in the second game as West Sioux overpowered St. Mary's 25-9 to take a 2-0 advantage on the night.

(Sentinel photo by Bethany Kroeze) RSM's Emma Krier smacks down a kill in Thursday's loss to West Sioux. [Click to enlarge]

Needing a win in game three to prolong the match, the Hawks battled back and forth with the Falcons. Unfortunately, St. Mary's fight fell just short as West Sioux went on win the game - and the match - with a 25-17 game three victory.

"I think we played very well again - we have some really tough competion our conference," said RSM's Janelle Schorg. "We're sticking neck and neck with them for most of the game but sometimes we get stuck in a rut and we forget to move forward."

"We had some calls that didn't go our way when we were starting to get momentum and at times, it stopped us from really moving forward."

(Sentinel photo by Bethany Kroeze) RSM's Mercedees Ricke digs up a hit against West Sioux Thursday night. The junior had seven digs in the Hawks' 3-0 loss. [Click to enlarge]

Jennifer Feller led the Hawks with two aces on 9-10 serving. Kelsey Schroeder was 7-7 from the service line with one ace on the night.

Brielle Biezuns was one of the Hawks' most potent attackers on Thursday as she finished with four kills in the match. The sophomore also did her part on defense as she recorded six digs and four blocks in the losing effort.

Emma Krier was also a major factor in the team's play as she was near the top in most of the team's statistical categories. After contributing three blocks, the sophomore recorded a team-high 14 digs and seven blocks.

(Sentinel photo by Bethany Kroeze) RSM setter Jennifer Feller dishes up an assist to set up the offense for the Hawks against West Sioux. [Click to enlarge]

Feller, the team's setter, dished out eight assists. Senior Samantha Theisen recorded nine digs in the match while teammate Mercedees Ricke had seven overall.

With the War Eagle Conference tournament looming next week, the Hawks will use this weekend to prepare for tournament-style play as they will take part in the Alta tournament. The Hawks will see a few new teams that they don't play on a regular basis before the conference tournament.

In the WEC tournament, St. Mary's will play at Sergeant Bluff-Luton and will be in the same pool as Hinton, SB-L, Gehlen and Spalding Catholic. The Hawks will face Gehlen in the first match before taking on the hosts later in the day. The first match begins at 4:30 p.m.