(Atlantic) Red Oak swept three straight sets from Atlantic in Hawkeye Ten Conference volleyball Tuesday night in Atlantic. The Tigers claimed the match with set scores of 25-21, 25-15, and 25-17.
In the opening set, Red Oak jumped out to a 4-0 lead before Atlantic answered with a 4-0 run of their own, fueled by four consecutive ace serves from junior Jillian Saathoff.
“Jillian consistently delivers and aggressive serve,” said Atlantic Head Coach Alyssa Boltz. “We work with the entire team on serving hard, and Jillian was on fire tonight. I think it is a mix between the flow, and top spin at the end that makes her serves so effective.”
The set remained tight until Red Oak broke a 9-9 tie and never trailed again. The Tigers’ largest lead came at 23-18 before they closed out the set 25-21.
The second set saw Red Oak take control early with a dominant 9-0 run, building a 15-5 lead. Although the Trojans were able to stabilize and keep pace the rest of the way, the early deficit proved too much to overcome as Red Oak cruised to a 25-15 win.
In the final set, Red Oak once again opened strong with a 4-0 burst. Atlantic responded with four straight points to tie it at 4-4. After a brief 6-6 deadlock, Red Oak regained the lead and maintained a narrow edge the rest of the way, finishing the match with a 25-17 victory.
“There are a lot of things we can control,” said Boltz. “We had some missed serves and passing issues that we’ll definitely work on moving forward. In the third set, we came out ready to play our game and stuck with a really good team.”
“The one thing we’re constantly working on is resetting after making a mistake,” Boltz added. “In that third set, we could have come out flat and let them take it, but we battled. There are just a few things we need to clean up.”
Red Oak extends its record to 6-1, and 1-0 in the Hawkeye Ten Conference. Atlantic falls to 5-3, and 0-1 in conference play.
