Photos by Samantha Davis: Russell-Tyler-Ruthton's Sara Thooft (center) high-fives the team after hitting a service ace in the first set against Hills-Beaver Creek Thursday night in Tyler in a Red Rock Conference matchup. The Knights swept the Patriots. Below: RTR's Ava Karbo goes up for a kill in the second set against HBC Thursday night. Below: RTR head coach Daynica Brown (center) breaks down a huddle in the third set.

TYLER — The third-ranked Russell-Tyler-Ruthton volleyball team wasted no time in controlling all aspects of the game against Hills-Beaver Creek Thursday night to pick up its 10th win of the season and fourth consecutive sweep. The Knights remain perfect in the Red Rock Conference standings after taking down the Patriots in sets of 25-8, 25-12 and 25-13.

“I’m just really excited that I get to play with my team every single day, and we just keep playing together and winning. It’s fun,” senior Ava Karbo said. “We spend extra time in practice. We play games every single day in practice, and it really helps with our bonding. I think we’re just all close from school and volleyball, too.”

From the first serve, RTR played aggressively from the service line, the front of the net and on the defensive end while continuing to take advantage of HBC errors.

“I felt the girls just came out and played their game. Played aggressive, blocked, played good [defense],” RTR head coach Daynice Brown said. “I thought our serve line was really strong, lots of aces. They just spot served well … That was really, really nice.”

Karbo led RTR with a team-high 10 kills and four blocks. Yet, the Knights had several other contributors all over the floor behind Brynn Borresen’s three blocks and six kills, Brezlyn Buchert’s six digs and 12 set assists, Dru Ellefson’s team-best 13 assists, and Laken Baartman’s seven digs.

The Knights also had seven service aces, led by Buchert’s three. Sara Thooft had another two aces, while Makenna Hess and Baartman each had one.

“We want to just keep our servers serving, so we just keep hitting away,” Karbo said of the team’s offensive versatility. “I think, it’s not a competition, but we like to see who can get the most kills every night. It’s fun.”

Sara Thooft got the night started with a service ace, while a Patriots’ hitting error and a block from Karbo gave RTR a 3-0 lead to begin the first set. Sara also finished with seven kills.

HBC called an early timeout when facing a 12-1 deficit after another Karbo kill, when the Knights continued to fire on all cylinders coming out of the break to embark on a 6-2 run to power an 18-3 lead. Baartman and Paisley Thooft’s kill extended the end of the run.

RTR took the first set behind a trio of errors on HBC’s part, while protecting the front of the net.

Paisley Thooft and Karbo both had three kills each to lead the Knights in game 1.

RTR continued with an all-around team effort, and started the second set on the same note behind an ace from Buchert and a Karbo kill to help grab an 8-3 advantage.

Buchert also finished the night with six digs, while Hess had another four.

“I think it’s [serving effort] really great,” Karbo said. “We just have new servers every single time, and I think it’s great to see that.”

Kills from Ellefson and Borresen kept building up the Knights’ lead, along with a continuous strong blocking effort.

The final three points of the set came from a Paisley Thooft and Ellefson kill, and an assisted block by Sara Thooft and Borresen.

The final set started off more competitive with HBC fighting to stay in reach with a 7-6 deficit, as the two teams traded the first few points.

But, a Patriots’ net violation, hitting error and block from Ellefson put RTR back up, 10-6.

HBC called a timeout as the Knights went on a 7-3 run, before RTR finished off the night with off a pair of HBC errors and a kill from Sara Thooft.

“I think Brezlyn Buchert had a huge run. Sara, another run in there. That was nice to see. Our hitters too, I think they were hitting very strong tonight and were aggressive,” Brown said. “I think they did a lot of placement. Tonight was a good night to work on different things. Also you could see, we got many players in and allowed many players to also grow and learn. It was a great night.”

RTR continues to climb the Class A coach’s poll, and was ranked No. 3 in the most recent polls released on Monday. The Knights started the season ranked fifth, and now only sit behind top-ranked Minneota and No. 2 Mayer-Lutheran.

“Section 3A is just a hard section. You got to keep growing. Our whole thing is, every day, every play, be better,” Brown said. “With that, just being focused on that and pushing yourself. It doesn’t matter whoever’s on the other side of the court, just focus on your play, working hard and improving every play.”

With Thursday’s win, RTR remains at the top and undefeated in the Red Rock Conference standings, now 4-0.

Karbo said the team will continue to carry on the high energy the Knights play with, and keep growing the strength of their bond to proceed pushing forward.

The Knights (10-4) have a quick turnaround and will next compete in the Class A Showdown Tournament, facing other top competition in the class over two days. They will take on Kenyon-Wanamingo (9-2) today at 6:30 p.m., then Ely (9-2) directly after at the Midwest Volleyball Warehouse in Burnsville.

“You don’t want to take a step back. That’s where I think all these games matter. It helps you improve, and it helps you work on different areas of your game,” Brown said. “It also exposes if you slow down sometimes, which we did at times, where we need to always have that high energy and high tempo … You want to control the tempo.”

On Saturday, RTR will once again face No. 6 Canby (7-5), where the Lancers will be looking for revenge after the Knights won a five-set thriller earlier in the month. Minneota and Mayer-Lutheran will also be participating in the tournament.