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PREP VOLLEYBALL: Knights slip past Rebels in four sets

Photo by Brennen Rupp RTR’s Kylea Baartman serves the ball during their match against MCC on Monday.

SLAYTON – The Russell-Tyler-Ruthton Knights picked up their third win of the season Monday evening with a 3-1 victory over Murray County Central. The Knights took the first two sets of the match, before dropping the third set and coming back to close out the match with the fourth set victory.

“We saw glimpses of our team playing at a high tempo,” RTR coach Daynica Brown said. “We were quick on defense. There were moments we gave up on that, and didn’t play to our level. We could have been a little stronger on our blocking. MCC did have a tall hitter, and another hard swinger on the outside.”

The Knights took the first set 25-18. Tina Haroldson and Lexi Wendland both recorded three kills for the Knights.

Vittoria Mazzoni, Alyssa Groves and Amanda Muecke all recorded two kills for the Rebels in the opening set.

It was all RTR in the second set. The Knights jumped out to an 11-4 lead and cruised to a 25-9 second set victory.

“Coming off a weekend in which we had a lot of play is something I think really took a lot out of us,” MCC coach Kate Robinson said. “We couldn’t get mentally in our passing. We failed to come up with plays right away. That really hurt us in the first two sets. We did fight back in the next two sets.”

Haroldson led the Knights with five kills in the second set. Wendland and Chloe Hess both recorded three kills.

Elise Rohrer and Montana Beckmann both recorded two kills for the Rebels.

The Rebels bounced back to take the third set, 25-17. Robinson told her team before the set to go out and play their game.

“I just told them that it’s their game,” Robinson said. “I can’t yell at them to change the game. I can’t change the score. It all starts with that mental toughness and it all starts with one play at a time. They were able to work back one by one.”

Brown said her team’s lack of focus in the third set was disappointing.

“I think we lost our focus,” Brown said. “The girls have to be focused and mentally tough, even if you beat a team by a lot of points in the set before. You have to know that they are going to come back. They’re not just going to lay down. You have to be ready for them to come back. You have to play your top game at all times. I think we let down a little in that third set.”

Rohrer finished with three kills and two aces, including the game-winning ace for the Rebels. Groves recorded three kills.

Haroldson led RTR with four kills. Madison Witte chipped in with three kills.

The Knights jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the fourth set and appeared to be on their way to a quick set. The Rebels answered right back by going on a 5-0 run to tie the set at five apiece. During that 5-0 MCC run, Danielle Kuball recorded three aces.

In the end, the Knights won the back and forth set, 25-23 to win the match, 3-1.

Kylea Baartman led RTR with four kills and one ace. Haroldson finished the final set with two kills.

Groves and Rohrer both recorded three kills for the Rebels. Beckmann finished with two kills.

The Knights are now 3-7 and have won two straight games. They’ll look to make it three in a row tonight against the Lakeview Lakers.

“I want them to be mentally tough and play hard and play aggressive from point one to the end of the game,” Brown said. “I want them to keep that high tempo all the way through. It doesn’t matter if we are up 10 or 15 points, we need to play aggressive at all times until the game is done.”

The loss snapped MCC’s three-game winning streak. They are 5-4 overall and will look to start a new streak tonight against Westbrook-Walnut Grove.

“They have the hunger, they really do,” Robinson said. “It’s just in the small parts of the game where we need to make improvements. We really have to step up our game and fix the small mistakes.”

RTR 25 25 17 25

MCC 18 9 25 23

KILLS: RTR (Haroldson 16; Wendland 9); MCC (Groves 9; Rohrer 8; Mazzoni 7).

ASSISTS: RTR (Christensen 34); MCC (Kuball 18; Wieneke 17).

DIGS: RTR (Carr 37; Haroldson 28); MCC (Beckmann 11; Brown 9; Wieneke 7).

BLOCKS: RTR (R. Hess 3); MCC (Mazzoni 4).

ACES: (Christensen, M. Muenchow, Baartman 2); MCC (Kuball 4; Rohrer 2).

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