MARSHALL — The No. 4 Russell-Tyler-Ruthton volleyball team put together a perfect run at the Jimmy John’s Invitational over the weekend, defeating Central Minnesota Christian in the championship match to place first in the tournament and extend its winning streak to 12 matches dating back to Sept. 19.

The Knights opened their tournament run with a 25-8, 25-8, 23-25 win over Luverne. Paisley and Sarah Thooft led the team offensively with 10 and nine kills, respectively, while Brezlyn Buchert tallied 17 set assists and 10 digs.

Facing off against Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg in their second game, the Knights pulled off a 25-18, 25-12, 25-19 sweep. laken Baartman dazzled in the back row with 24 digs while Sarah Thooft recorded 17 kills, followed by seven each from Paisley Thooft, Brynn Borresen and Ava Karbo. Dru Ellefson and Buchert also logged 21 and 19 set assists, respectively.

RTR opened against Renville County West on Saturday, earning a 25-12, 25-18 win. Dru Ellefson contributed 13 and 11 set assists, respectively, while Paisley Thooft’s eight kills and Sara Thooft’s 11 digs were both team highs.

Looking to earn its way to the championship match, RTR eked out a 27-25 win in the first set of its match against Wabasso and held on for a 25-20 win in the second to clinch the semifinal victory.

Sara and Paisley Thooft each recorded eight kills in the win while Brezlyn Buchert and Dru Ellefson facilitated the attack with 14 and 10 set assists. Laken Baartman also logged 11 digs.

In the championship round, RTR claimed its first set against Central Minnesota Christian 25-19 but dropped the second 25-22. Still, the Knights held on in the tiebreaker for a 15-12 win to head home with some hardware.

Karbo and Sara Thooft each logged four blocks in the game, and Karbo’s 10 kills were also a team-high just ahead of Paisley Thooft’s nine.

In the back row, Baartman finished the match with 18 digs. Buchert contributed 14 set assists while Ellefson added another 10.

RTR improves to 22-5 on the season with the win, and received one of 12 first-place votes in the latest Class A coaches poll. RTR will head to Lamberton tonight to take on Red Rock Central (4-13) at 7:15 p.m.

Wabasso, third place

The Wabasso volleyball team placed third out of 23 teams in the Jimmy John’s Classic over the weekend, winning its way to the tournament semifinals before falling to eventual champion Russell-Tyler-Ruthton in straight sets.

The Rabbits opened the tournament perfect on day 1, sweeping Dawson-Boyd 25-12, 25-5, 25-15 and then defeating Worthington 25-5, 25-11, 25-19.

That momentum carried into the Rabbits first Saturday match, where they picked up a 25-22, 27-25 win over Adrian/Ellsworth.

Wabasso ran out of steam when they got to No. 4 RTR in the semifinals, however. The Rabbits pushed the Knights to the brink in the first set, but fell 27-25 before dropping the second set 25-20.

In the third-place match, the Rabbits redeemed themselves with a 25-23, 26-24 win over No. 7 MACCRAY.

Wabasso now sits at 16-11 on the season, having won four of its last five matches, and hosts Springfield (5-16) tonight at 7:15 p.m.

WWG, 8th place

The Westbrook-Walnut Grove volleyball team’s strong first day of play at the Jimmy John’s Invitational wasn’t enough to head home with hardware after the weekend tournament. The Chargers won each of their first two matches of the tournament on Friday, but dropped each of their final four.

Sydney Foster’s six digs, Carlie Ross’ six kills and Natasha Wahl’s five service aces helped WWG to a 25-13, 25-9 win over Lac qui Parle Valley to start the tournament. Hadley Jenniges also tallied 19 set assists in the opener.

The Chargers continued to roll with another sweep of Montevideo, in which Jenniges finished with 19 set assists and four service aces. Ross also contributed 13 kills while Foster added 11 digs.

From there, however, WWG faltered. In their final Friday match, the Chargers fell 25-23, 25-19 to Adrian/Ellsworth despite eight digs apiece from Jenniges and Wahl and 10 kills from Ross.

WWG still qualified for the Gold Bracket and a chance at a first-place finish. Yet, No. 7 MACCRAY ended those championship hopes by defeating WWG 25-23, 25-19. Ross led the team offensively and defensively in the match with seven kills, seven digs and combined with Leah Carter for a block.

In the consolation bracket, WWG won its first set against Cedar Mountain 25-23 but dropped the second 25-22 and the tiebreaker 15-7.

Wahl, Ross and Leah VanDeWiele recorded 15, 14 and 11 digs, respectively, in thematch. Jenniges also contributed 20 assists while Carter logged eight kills.

In the seventh-place match, Adrian/Ellsworth won the first set 25-20, but WWG bounced back with a 27-25 win in set 2. Yet, the Dragons halted WWG’s attempt to avenge Friday’s loss by defeating the Chargers 25-11 in the tiebreaker.

WWG’s back row had a strong performance in the match. Wahl recorded 12 digs, followed by 11 from Jenniges and 10 each from VanDeWiele and Foster. Jenniges also recorded 22 set assists while Ross and Carter led the attack with 11 and nine kills, respectively.

WWG now sits at 16-9 on the season and hosts Hills-Beaver Creek (8-11) tonight at 7:15 p.m.

Lakeview, 10th place

A strong tournament run earned the Lakeview volleyball team a 10th-place finish at the Jimmy John’s Classic over the weekend, winning its first two Brown Bracket matches before falling to Windom in the ninth-place match.

The Lakers started the tournament with a 29-27, 25-18 loss to Renville County West. The Lakers also dropped their first set against Windom, 25-21, but won the second 25-18 before winning via tiebreaker.

In their first Saturday match, Lakeview picked up a 25-21, 22-25, 15-5 win over Murray County Central and a 17-25, 25-19, 16-14 win over Luverne. Yet, Windom got its revenge in the final match of the tournament with a 25-23, 18-25, 15-8 win over the Lakers.

Lakeview improves to 13-9 on the season after Monday’s Camden Conference win over Tracy-Milroy-Balaton and hosts No. 2 Minneota (18-3) tonight at 7:15 p.m.

MCC, 12th place

Murray County Central finished in 12th place at the Jimmy John’s Classic over the weekend, splitting its day 1 matches on Friday and bouncing back from a loss to Lakeview in bracket play with back-to-back wins to close the tournament.

The Rebels earned a 25-6, 25-21, 25-17 sweep of Springfield ot start the tournament but fell 26-24, 25-20, 25-18 to eventual runner-up Central Minnesota Christian to end Friday.

On Saturday, the Lakers defeated MCC 25-21, 22-25, 15-5 to start the Brown Bracket but MCC bounced back with a 27-25, 28-26 win over Hills-Beaver Creek and a 25-17, 25-22 win over Worthington to close out the tournament.

MCC is now 11-8 on the season and hosts Adrian/Ellsworth (13-8) in Slayton tonight at 7:15 p.m.

YME, 22nd place

The Yellow Medicine East volleyball team earned a win at the Jimmy John’s Classic over the weekend, going 1-4 to place 22nd in the event.

YME won its opening set against Redwood Valley 25-21 on Friday, but dropped the next two 30-28 and 25-18. The Sting also came close against Cedar Mountain, but lost 25-22, 25-22.

In Saturday’s opener, YME lost the first set against Springfield 25-21 but took the second 25-17. Still, it lost 25-10 in the tiebreaker.

The Sting’s lone win of the event came against Dawson-Boyd, winning the first set 25-22 before dropping the second by the same score. Yet, the Sting came up clutch in the tiebreaker with a 15-6 win.

Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg defeated YME 25-19, 25-14 in the 21st-place match.

Ella Cherveny led the Sting defensively in the tournament with 40 digs while Alana Almich led the front row with 36 kills, four ace blocks, five ace serves and 10 digs.

Lexi Stengel also contributed 80 set assists over the course of the tournament’s five matches.

YME is now 5-15 on the season and goes on the road to take on No. 5 Canby (13-8) on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.