MARSHALL — The third-ranked Russell-Tyler-Ruthton volleyball team led area teams at the Jimmy John’s Invitational at Southwest Minnesota State University over the weekend, winning both of its Friday matches before falling to third in the championship bracket on Saturday.

RTR was knocked out of title contention by Watertown, S.D. in the tournament semifinals. The Knights fell just short in the first game of the back-and-forth match, 28-26, before bouncing back with a 26-24 win. Still, Watertown came out on top in the third set by a score of 15-13.

Abby Carr led the charge for the Knights with 20 kills, eight digs and a pair of blocks. Avery Schreurs and Tatum Hess led the team defensively in the match with 15 and 14 digs respectively while Gabi Borresen had 29 set assists. Ally Nelson also had seven kills and a pair of blocks. 

Watertown went on to take down Class AA No. 11 Redwood Valley in the championship, 25-16, 25-11.

After falling short in the semifinals, the Knights didn’t take any time to bounce back in the third-place match. RTR handily defeated Cedar Mountain in sRTR takes third place at Jimmy John’s Invite

 MARSHALL — The third-ranked Russell-Tyler-Ruthton volleyball team led area teams at the Jimmy John’s Invitational at Southwest Minnesota State University over the weekend, winning both of its Friday matches before falling to third in the championship bracket on Saturday.

RTR was knocked out of title contention by Watertown, S.D. in the tournament semifinals. The Knights fell just short in the first game of the back-and-forth match, 28-26, before bouncing back with a 26-24 win. Still, Watertown came out on top in the third set by a score of 15-13.

Abby Carr led the charge for the Knights with 20 kills, eight digs and a pair of blocks. Avery Schreurs and Tatum Hess led the team defensively in the match with 15 and 14 digs respectively while Gabi Borresen had 29 set assists. Ally Nelson also had seven kills and a pair of blocks. 

Watertown went on to take down Class AA No. 11 Redwood Valley in the championship, 25-16, 25-11.

After falling short in the semifinals, the Knights didn’t take any time to bounce back in the third-place match. RTR handily defeated Cedar Mountain in straight sets, 25-11, 25-15.

Carr and Nelson each had nine kills and a block in the match while Gabi Borresen had 25 set assists. Schreuers and Laken Baartman had eight and seven digs respectively while Carr had another six.

The Knights opened their second day in the Gold Bracket with a 2-0 win over No. 10 Renville County West with game scores of 25-11 and 25-10.

Schreurs, Carr and Baartman put on a defensive masterclass, finishing with 13, 12 and 10 digs respectively. Borreson and Hess also each finished with seven each.

Carr had 12 kills in the set while Nelson had six with a pair of blocks and Borreson had 21 set assists. 

Baartman also had three service aces in the match.

In Friday’s pool play, the Knights ran away with their matches against Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg and Central Minnesota Christian. RTR opened with a 25-8, 25-13 win over KMS before clinching their spot in the Gold Bracket with a 25-20, 27-25 win over CMC.

Borreson totaled 38 set assists over the two matches while also contributing 16 digs to tie Schreurs for a team-high. Baartman also had 14 digs on the day while Carr had another 13.

Carr also led the Knights offensively with 20 kills. Carr and Camry Swanson each had three blocks in the second match against CMC.

Russell-Tyler-Ruthton (21-5) will head out on the road tonight to face off against Southwest Minnesota Christian at 7:15 p.m. From there, they’ll have until Monday to rest up for the last week of the regular season. 

Westbrook-Walnut Grove, sixth place

MARSHALL — After finishing the first day of pool play at the Jimmy John’s Invitational unscathed, the Westbrook-Walnut Grove volleyball team suffered a pair of losses in the Gold Bracket Saturday afternoon to place sixth in the tournament at SMSU.

While not quite cracking the top 10, WWG received a surge of votes in the most recent coaches poll to rank No. 16 in Class A. 

The Chargers’ tournament came to an end in a five-set battle against No. 13 MACCRAY. The first two sets were decided fairly handily, with WWG taking game one 25-17 and the Wolverines taking the second 25-15. The third game, however, went down to the wire. Still, MACCRAY walked away with a 17-15 win to place fifth in the tournament.

Class AA No. 11 Redwood Valley knocked the Chargers out of title contention with a particularly competitive match in the first round of the Gold Bracket. WWG won the first game 32-30 before Redwood Valley evened the score with a 25-23 win in the second game. From there, the Cardinals took the match with a 15-13 win.

WWG edged out No. 13 Cleveland in the consolation bracket 25-22, 25-11 to advance to the fifth-place match.

Natalie Wahl led the Chargers offensively and defensively in the tournament. Her 50 kills and 51 digs were both team-highs and her five aces trailed only Riley Parker’s six. 

WWG was very effective from the service line as a group. Their three leading servers — Parker, Addison Jenniges and Wahl — combined for just six errors on 145 attempts. 

Jenniges also had a team-high 114 set assists and 41 digs while Parker totaled five blocks in the tournament.

Abby Wiggins also contributed 49 digs while Carlie Ross tallied 42 kills.

In pool play on Friday, the Chargers defeated Dawson-Boyd 25-22, 25-14 and took down Gibbon-Winthrop-Fairfax 25-11, 25-16.

Westbrook-Walnut Grove (18-4) will try to keep its momentum rolling when it goes on the road to face Mountain Lake Area-Comfrey tonight at 7:15 p.m.

Lakeview, 10th place

MARSHALL — The Lakeview volleyball split its first-day matches at the Jimmy John’s Invitational at SMSU over the weekend before going on a run on Saturday to finish as the Brown Bracket runner-up.

Adrian-Ellsworth ended the Lakers’ day with a loss in the championship bracket. After dropping the first game 25-19, Lakeview came back stronger in the second. Still, a 25-23 loss gave the Dragons the bracket championship.

Lakeview opened Saturday with a 26-24, 24-26, 15-9 win over Worthington and advanced to the Brown Division finals with a 23-25, 25-20, 15-12 win over Central Minnesota Christian.

Taylor Hinz’s 27 kills and nine aces in the tournament were both team-highs for the Lakers. Her 33 digs were also second to Olivia Hinz’s 44.

Olivia and Kiara Hinz each contributed eight aces and finished second and third on the team in kills with 23 and 21 respectively. Kiara also chipped in another 31 digs while Aubreigh Rausch had 70 set assists and 39 digs for Lakeview. 

In Friday’s pool play, Lakeview opened with a 25-11, 25-18 loss to Watertown, S.D. before bouncing back with a 25-19, 25-19 win over Pipestone.

Lakeview (9-11) will host No. 6 Canby for its final home match of the regular season on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m. From there, the Lakers will play three consecutive road matches before heading into the section tournament. 

traight sets, 25-11, 25-15.

Carr and Nelson each had nine kills and a block in the match while Gabi Borresen had 25 set assists. Schreuers and Laken Baartman had eight and seven digs respectively while Carr had another six.

The Knights opened their second day in the Gold Bracket with a 2-0 win over No. 10 Renville County West with game scores of 25-11 and 25-10.

Schreurs, Carr and Baartman put on a defensive masterclass, finishing with 13, 12 and 10 digs respectively. Borreson and Hess also each finished with seven each.

Carr had 12 kills in the set while Nelson had six with a pair of blocks and Borreson had 21 set assists. 

Baartman also had three service aces in the match.

In Friday’s pool play, the Knights ran away with their matches against Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg and Central Minnesota Christian. RTR opened with a 25-8, 25-13 win over KMS before clinching their spot in the Gold Bracket with a 25-20, 27-25 win over CMC.

Borreson totaled 38 set assists over the two matches while also contributing 16 digs to tie Schreurs for a team-high. Baartman also had 14 digs on the day while Carr had another 13.

Carr also led the Knights offensively with 20 kills. Carr and Camry Swanson each had three blocks in the second match against CMC.

Russell-Tyler-Ruthton (21-5) will head out on the road tonight to face off against Southwest Minnesota Christian at 7:15 p.m. From there, they’ll have until Monday to rest up for the last week of the regular season. 

Lakeview, 10th place

MARSHALL — The Lakeview volleyball split its first-day matches at the Jimmy John’s Invitational at SMSU over the weekend before going on a run on Saturday to finish as the Brown Bracket runner-up.

Adrian-Ellsworth ended the Lakers’ day with a loss in the championship bracket. After dropping the first game 25-19, Lakeview came back stronger in the second. Still, a 25-23 loss gave the Dragons the bracket championship.

Lakeview opened saturday with a 26-24, 24-26, 15-9 win over Worthington and advanced to the Brown Division finals with a 23-25, 25-20, 15-12 win over Central Minnesota Christian.

Taylor Hinz’s 27 kills and nine aces in the tournament were both team-highs for the Lakers. Her 33 digs were also second to Olivia Hinz’s 44.

Olivia and Kiara Hinz each contributed eight aces and finished second and third on the team in kills with 23 and 21 respectively. Kiara also chipped in another 31 digs while Aubreigh Rausch had 70 set assists and 39 digs for Lakeview. 

In the Friday’s pool play, Lakeview opened with a 25-11, 25-18 loss to Watertown, S.D. before bouncing back with a 25-19, 25-19 win over Pipestone.

Lakeview (9-11) will host No. 6 Canby for its final home match of the regular season on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m. From there, the Lakers will play three consecutive road matches before heading into the section tournament.

Dawson-Boyd, 12th place

MARSHALL — The Dawson-Boyd volleyball team picked up a pair of wins at the Jimmy John’s Invitational over the weekend to place fourth in the tournament’s Brown Division.

The Blackjacks opened the tournament with a 25-22, 25-14 loss to Westbrook-Walnut Grove in pool play before defeating Gibbon-Winthrop-Fairfax 23-25, 25-22, 15-13 to close out pool play.

They opened their Brown Division bracket run with a 9-25, 25-23, 15-19 win over West Lutheran before being knocked down to the consolation bracket by Adrian-Ellsworth, 25-20, 25-13. Facing Central Minnesota Christian in the third-place match, CMC came out on top 25-14, 25-12.

Stats were not available at time of press.

Dawson-Boyd (8-12) followed up its tournament with a Monday-night match against Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City. From there, they’ll host Central Christian in their penultimate home match tonight at 7:15 p.m.

MCC, 18th place

MARSHALL — Despite sputtering out the gates, the Murray County Central volleyball team picked up a pair of wins on the second day of the Jimmy John’s Invitational to finish as the event’s White Bracket runner-up.

In the first day’s pool play, MCC lost to Cleveland by game scores of 25-21, 25-19 and Windom 25-15, 25-18.

After being assigned to the White Division, the Rebels bounced back with a 25-9, 19-25, 15-13 win over Yellow Medicine East. They then took down Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop in straight sets, 27-25, 25-18, before falling to Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg in the division championship. KMS won by scores of 23-25, 25-16, 15-10.

Stats for the Rebels were unavailable at time of press.

Murray County Central (10-12) went on to play at Pipestone Area on Monday night. From there, they’ll go on the road to face Edgerton tonight at 7:15 p.m.

YME, 21st

MARSHALL — The Yellow Medicine East volleyball team bounced back after losing each of its first three matches at this weekend’s Jimmy John’s Invitational by closing the tournament out with a pair of wins to place fifth in the White Bracket on Saturday.

After being knocked down to the White Division consolation bracket, YME held off RRC in three games with scores of 25-18, 18-25, 15-13 to advance to the fifth-place game. There, they defeated Hills-Beaver Creek 25-17, 15-25, 15-13.

On the tournament’s first day, YME lost to Adrian-Ellsworth 25-19, 25-11 and to Cedar Mountain 25-11, 25-16. Cedar Mountain went on to place fourth in the Gold Bracket.

Murray County Central defeated YME in the first game of Saturday’s White Bracket by game scores of 25-9, 19-25, 15-13.

Ella Cherveny led the Sting defensively with 58 digs while Narria Leenerts and Riley Streich had 47 and 42 respectively. Streich also had a team-high 54 assists. Streich’s five blocks were second to Alana Almich’s seven and Leenerts’ 14 kills were second to Leenerts’ 28.

Yellow Medicine East (4-16) will try to end its home schedule on a high note when it hosts Tracy-Milroy-Balaton tonight and Lakeview on Friday. 

RRC, 24th

MARSHALL — The Red Rock Central volleyball team was unable to gain any traction at the Jimmy John’s Invitational over the weekend, dropping each of its five matches in the event.

The Falcons lost 2-1 to West Lutheran and 2-0 to Redwood Valley to start the first day of the tournament. After being assigned to the White Division, the Falcons lost 2-0 to Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop and 2-1 to Yellow Medicine East before being swept by Springfield in the bracket’s seventh-place match.

Maia Scheffler led the team with 64 digs in the tournament while Addison Irlbeck and Natasha Erickson had 39 and 31 set assists respectively. Erickson also had 27 digs while Mercedes Myers led the team offensively with 20 kills and seven aces.

Red Rock Central (2-19) went on the road to face Edgerton on Monday anf, from there, will go to face Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda tonight at 7:15 p.m.