MARSHALL — The Russell-Tyler-Ruthton volleyball team took fourth place at the Jimmy John’s Tournament at Southwest Minnesota State University over the weekend, dropping its two bracket matches after a perfect pool play run. The Knights were the top-ranked team in Class A heading into the tournament, but dropped one spot after the pair of Saturday losses.

Brookings (S.D.) won the tournament while Redwood Valley finished as runners-up.

No. 2 RTR, fourth place

After claiming a pair of first-day sweeps over Central Minnesota Christian and Lac qui Parle Valley, the No. 2 Russell-Tyler-Ruthton volleyball team ran out of steam after defeating Worthington to wrap up pool play. The Knights lost to the eventual Jimmy John’s Tournament champions, Brookings, in their first bracket matchup before falling to No. 7 MACCRAY in the third-place match.

RTR opened the tournament with a 25-10, 25-21 win over CMC, led by seven kills from Paisley Thooft and eight digs each from Avery Schreurs and Sara Thooft. Brezlyn Buchert also had 16 set assists in the match while Dilyn Werkman had a pair of blocks.

The momentum continued in to the second set, in which Buchert’s 18 assists and 12 digs led the Knights to a 25-15, 25-10 win over LQPV. Paisley Thooft also had six kills in the set while Ava Karbo added three blocks and Sara Thooft and Werkman added another two each.

Pool play continued on Friday, when Ava Karbo’s three blocks and four kills paved the way for a 25-13, 16-25, 15-6 win over Worthington. Baartman and Schreurs recorded 10 and nine digs in the match while Buchert tallied 18 set assists.

RTR lost its momentum when it took on Brookings in the opening round of the gold bracket, falling 25-22, 25-22. Schreurs notched 22 digs in the loss while Paisley Thooft and Buchert added 10 kills and 19 set assists respectively.

The Knights had one last opportunity for redemption in the third-place game but fell 25-10, 25-15 against MACCRAY. 

Schreurs and Baartman contributed 13 and 10 digs respectively while Paisley Thooft led the hitters again with five kills. Buchert and Dru Ellefson tallied four assists each.

Russell-Tyler-Ruthton now sits at 19-7 on the season and will look to avoid its third consecutive loss when it goes on the road to take on Murray County Central (9-10) tonight at 7:15 p.m.

WWG, 6th place

The Westbrook-Walnut Grove volleyball team took two of its three matches at the Jimmy John’s Tournament pool-play division to advance to the brown bracket, where it went 1-1 to finish sixth overall in the tournament.

The Chargers defeated Luverne 25-8, 25-8 and Cedar Mountain 25-21, 25-22 on Friday before concluding pool play with a 25-19, 25-23 to Class AA No. 10 Redwood Valley, the eventual tournament runner-up. 

Still, WWG bounced back with a 25-22, 22-25, 15-8 win over Renville County West to advance to the sixth-place match, where they fell to Central Minnesota Christian.

The Chargers are now 16-4 on the year. Having one each of their last seven best-of-five matches, they’ll look to keep the streak going when they head to Lamberton for a match against Red Rock Central (7-11) tonight at 7:15 p.m.

Lakeview, 9th place

Despite dropping each of its first two matches at the Jimmy John’s Tournament over the weekend, the Lakeview volleyball team rallied for three straight wins to place ninth in the tournament.

The Lakers had a rough Friday, falling 2-1 against Pipestone Area and 2-0 against No. 7 MACCRAY. Yet, they bounced back on Saturday with a 2-1 win over Murray County Central to conclude pool play and move on to the Vegas bracket.

There, Lakeview defeated Lac qui Parley Valley after dropping the first set, 19-25, 25-9, 15-7. They then held off Cedar Mountain for a 25-23, 25-12 win in the ninth-place match.

Lakeview, 9-12, will look to pick up its fourth consecutive win when it hosts Renville County West (17-5) tonight at 7:15 p.m.

MCC, 14th place

After dropping its first three matches at the Jimmy John’s Invitational this weekend, the Murray County Central volleyball team split its Day 2 matches to finish 14th at the 16-team event.

The Rebels lost in straight sets to No. 7 MACCRAY and 2-1 to Pipestone on Friday before wrapping up pool play with a 2-1 loss to Lakeview. Suttyn Schryver had 13 kills in the Lakeview match, Kelli Miller and Thea Schneider contributed 21 and 15 set assists, and Emmi Peltola tallied eight digs.

MCC got some redemption with a 25-18, 19-25, 16-14 win over Worthington in the white bracket before falling 25-14, 17-25, 15-13 to Adrian-Ellsworth in their tournament finale.

Against Worthington, Peltola finished with 19 digs while Kate Blankenship and Avery Thovson added 12 and 10. Schneider and Miller logged 13 and 11 set assists while Peyton DeGreef had seven kills and a pair of blocks.

DeGreef also tied Schneider with two blocks in the loss to Adrian-Ellsworth. Schneider’s seven kills tied Schryver and Reese Gilbertson for a team-high and her 14 set assists edged out MIller’s 13. Peltola and Blankenship each had 18 digs in the loss.

Murray County Central falls below .500 to 9-10 with the loss. The Rebels will host No. 2 Russell-Tyler-Ruthton (19-7) today at 7:15 p.m.

Dawson-Boyd

The Dawson-Boyd Blackjacks split its matches against Springfield and Hills-Beaver Creek on Friday at the Jimmy John’s Tournament in Marshall before going 2-1 on the final day of play, beating Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop but falling to Yellow Medicine East and Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg.

Reese Johnson had 20 kills over Friday’s two matches while Bailey Bothun had 25 set assists.  Lindsey Lund and Natyah Ritter led the back row with six digs each while Bothun and Kadyn Perkins each logged a block.

On Saturday, Johnson had 23 digs and seven digs. Kadyn Perkins finished with 23 digs and 13 kills while Ritter added another 14 digs.

Bothun also added 34 assists and 12 digs in Saturday’s matches.

Dawson-Boyd, now 4-19, will host Lac qui Parle Valley (11-9) tonight at 7:15 p.m.