Photo by Kim Nelson: Photo by Kim Nelson Russell-Tyler-Ruthton’s Dilyn Werkman jumps into a hit during the Knights’ straight-sets win over Lakeview in their season-opener at RTR High School Thursday night.

TYLER — It was one of the hottest days of the summer for a match between the Lakeview Lakers and the Russell-Tyler-Ruthton Knights. Luckily, the RTR gym is air conditioned, which provided some comfort for a good crowd in the season opener for both teams. RTR is coming off of a very successful season last year, finishing up as section runners-up after a heartbreaking loss to eventual state champion Minneota. Lakeview has a very young squad, with only two seniors on the roster. They were put to the test early in the season against an RTR team that only lost 3 Seniors off last year’s team and was ranked No. 4 in the preseason coaches poll. In the end, it was RTR winning in straight sets 25-7, 25-7 and 25-13.

Lakeview opened up the scoring in the first set, but  RTR’s Laken Baartman served 12 straight points for a 12-1 RTR lead. The teams traded points, with Abby Carr serving until Lakeview’s Megan Schwartz ended the run with a powerful spike to make the score 19-4. With the score 23-6, Abby Carr ended the first set with a kill for a 25-7 win.

“I think it was good to get the first game out of the way,” said Carr, one of the RTR leaders.  “We played well as a team, and we came out with win.”

The second set went much like the first set, with Lakeview opening the scoring, but RTR jumped to a 7-5 lead. Camry Swanson ran off four points off her serve, and after scores by each team, Gabi Borresen served out the game, with Ally Nelson ending it with a spike, with RTR on top 25-7.

“We came out strong right away, and we were planning on showing who we are as a team.  I think we played very well,” Nelson said.

The third set found Lakeview gaining some confidence, but Brianna Pattison shut down the momentum temporarily by serving 4 straight points.  With Tatum Hess serving, RTR opened up a 13-6 lead.  But Lakeview bounced back, making the score 22-13.  However, Gabi Borresen served out the match for a 25-13 RTR victory.

“RTR has a great team, and they are ranked in the top ten for a reason, but we learned a lot tonight, and we doubled our score in the last game,” Lakeview head coach Stephanie Hennen said. “We will work on our confidence, because we are a young team.  But I was proud of our effort against a good team.”

RTR head coach Daynica Brown said of her team’s first game, “We played well, and I was able to get some young players in the game to help them gain their confidence, so that was exciting.  For our first game, you have to love that. We had a great tempo out there, all of our hitters stepped up tonight.  I thought Tatum Hess did a great job on the outside, and with Ally Nelson and Camry Swanson dominating the middle, and Dilyn Werkman setting up some great shots, that was fun to see.”

For Lakeview, Teegan Fiene went 5-6 on serves, Kiara Hinz was 5-5, Taylor Hinz was 4-5, Aubrey Nething was 5-7, and Olivia Hinz was 4-4.  Aubreigh Rausch had 16 set assists.

For RTR, Abby Carr had 14 kills, followed by Ally Nelson with six and Camry Swanson with five.  Laken Baartman had nine digs, and Gaby Borresen had 25 set assists.  Ally Nelson led the team with four blocks, and Laken Baartman had four service aces.

Russell-Tyler-Ruthton (1-0) will look to prove itself Saturday when it travels to New Prague to face off against Mayer Lutheran, the No. 3 team in the Minnesota Volleyball Coaches Association preseason poll.

Lakeview (0-1) will also face a tall task when it takes on No. 10 Wabasso in its next game on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.