DUBLIN — The Lady Knights opened the Four County Conference schedule on Thursday with a win over visiting Union in four sets.

The win improved West Bladen to 5-2 overall and 1-0 in the conference.

The lady Knights took the first game by a 25-16, then had to fight off a pesky Lady Spartans team to win the second game, 25-21, for a 2-0 lead.

But Union broke through in the third game, outscoring West Bladen by a 25-22 margin to tighten the match at 2-1.

The lady Knights, however, began clicking again in the fourth game and handed Union a 25-12 loss to give West Bladen the win.

“The girls played great,” West Bladen coach Gaye Davis said. “They executed well …”

Logan Autry was the serving star for West Bladen, serving up 10 aces in the match. She also had seven assists and three kills.

Kathryn Schultz tallied eight kills for the Lady Knights, while Raegan Davis contributed seven kills, eight assists and two solo blocks. Morgan Schumacher had eight kills and three aces, and Kassidy Anderson had four aces and seven kills.

The Lady Knights will be in action again on Tuesday when they host Wallace-Rose Hill in conference action.

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Soccer

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In Cerro Gordo on Wednesday,Jake Evans scored a hat trick to lead East Bladen past West Columbus, 8-0, in a non-conference match.

The win improved the Eagles to 3-1.

After a scoreless 20 minutes, East Bladen got on the board when Evans booted a penalty kick that ricocheted off the post and back to Evans, who kicked it in for a 1-0 lead.

Several minutes later, Evans got another penalty kick and made it count for a 2-0 edge.

Before halftime, Grey Cabellero was in the right place at the right time when a throw-in bounced off the Vikings’ netminder and Cabellero bumped the ball into the net for a 3-0 lead at halftime.

Early in the second half, Pierce Melvin scored off a throw-in from Brooks McGill to give the Eagles a 4-0 lead. Just a minute later, Gabe Barber took a pass from Evans and rocketed a shot into the back of the net for a 5-0 advantage.

Midway through the half, Dan Tatum found McGill with a pass and McGill scored the goal from in close to give East Bladen a 6-0 edge.

Moments later, Melvin scored again, this time off a pass from Ezekiel Arteaga, and the Eagles were up 7-0.

Later in the match, Heustess ripped a penalty shot into the net to give East Bladen its final margin of victory.

The Eagles will host West Columbus on Tuesday in a non-conference match at 5 p.m.