Photo by Jenny Kirk Members of the RTR Knights celebrate after a point during their Section 3A match against the YME Sting. The Knights won the match 3-1.

GRANITE FALLS – The Russell-Tyler-Ruthton volleyball team didn’t seem bothered by the fact that third-seeded Yellow Medicine East was riding a 17-game winning streak into the Section 3A-North playoffs or that the Sting was mentioned in the Class A state rankings.

The sixth-seeded Knights dropped the first set, but were in the driver’s seat for the remainder of the match en route to a 3-1 victory on Friday in Granite Falls. They won by scores of 19-25, 25-20, 25-10, 25-15, avenging an early season loss to YME in five sets.

“It feels awesome,” RTR middle hitter Madison Witte said. “We knew it was going to be there and back the whole time, but it was nice to pull off the win.”

The Knights collected the first point of Set 2 on a right-side kill from Kylea Baartman. Mackenzie Dyrdahl’s tip got YME close at 4-3, a huge wave a momentum shifted in RTR’s favor. The Knights scored the next five points, accentuated by a powerful kill from Haley Muenchow give them a 9-3 edge.

“We really talked about getting the pass up to the setter,” Witte said. “That happened, so it was amazing.”

After a pair of kills from Sting outside hitter Meeghen Dahlager, RTR continued to stretch its lead by playing aggressive both offensively and defensively. Witte hammered one to the floor off a slide to give the Knights a 16-6 advantage.

A kill from outside hitter Alli Steffen stopped the run and sparked a valiant comeback attempt for the Sting. Dahlager pounded down four kills and Steffen added another one as well to put YME within striking distance at 20-15.

An RTR tip error allowed the Sting to climb to within three points at 21-18, but the Knights were able to close out the set with a 25-20 win.

“We learned a lot this season,” YME Coach Leah Fadness said. “We applaud RTR from the get-go. They came out and fought hard and unfortunately, we just didn’t match it. But where we’ve come as a whole, as a program this season, is drastically different. I told my kids they have nothing to hang their heads about.”

While RTR kept sharp in all facets of the game in the third set, errors began to pile up for YME. Behind the serving of libero Madison Muenchow, the Knights took a 7-2 lead, forcing YME to take a timeout. A kill and an ace block from Witte stretched RTR’s advantage to 12-5. Witte collected five ace blocks in the match.

“It was amazing,” Witte said. “I’ve been practicing my timing all year and it finally came through. It’s so much fun.”]

Solid serving from Kalleigh Carr kept the Sting off-balance and helped give RTR a 16-7 lead. The Knight kept the pressure on, capitalizing on YME errors, an ace serve from Baartman and a kill from Haley Muenchow in the middle to take the set 25-10.

“There’s a lot to take from this,” Fadness said. “When you think you’ve done enough, you can do a little bit more. We’ve got work to do, still, in the off-season, but RTR plays a tremendous game and there were too many errors on our side. That’s just how it goes sometimes. We’ve come so far this season. We can’t define ourselves from this moment.”

The Sting looked to keep in the match as they took their first lead since the opening set of play, with a 2-1 lead on an ace block from Steffen. The teams traded points and were tied at 9-9 before RTR pulled away for good. Setter Mckinley Schreurs contributed two straight ace serves to spark the rally.

Witte added a kill from the outside, while Carr earned an ace serve and kept several plays alive by her scrappy back row defense, giving the Knights a 16-10 lead and forcing the Sting to take a timeout. RTR could taste victory and didn’t let YME back in the game. An ace block from Witte and kills from Madison Muenchow and Baartman pushed the lead to 20-10.

Baartman added another kill and an ace block, while Carr also hit one to the floor to set up game point. Haley Muenchow put the final spike down from the right-side to seal the match for the Knights.

Schreurs spread the offense out well, tallying 29 set assists in the contest.

“We really knew where to place the ball,” Witte said. “Once it got passed to the setter, we were able to get it to good places.”

YME losses two seniors: Dahlager and Dyrdahl.

“They’ve done so much for us,” Fadness said. “Meeghen has been such a huge asset, doing everything she can in the back row to make smart plays and she’s a huge factor in the front row, whether it’s slowing down balls or slamming balls down the line. And Kenzie speaks for herself as well. She chases down so many balls in the back row and so much more.”

RTR advances to take on second-seeded Wabasso on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m. at Southwest Minnesota State University.

“I feel very confident in our team,” Witte said. “With energy and effort, we’re going to give Wabasso a run for their money.”