Red Oak 3-1 at own tournament

The Red Oak volleyball team was undefeated in pool play and finished 3-1 at its own Red Oak Volleyball Invitational Tournament Saturday.
The Class 2A, No. 12 ranked Tigers (13-3 overall, 2-1 in the Hawkeye 10 Conference) lost its Gold Bracket opening match 21-10, 21-17 to Class 3A, No. 2 ranked Western Christian after going 3-0 in Pool D play with wins over Harlan 21-17, 21-13, East Union 21-7, 21-14 and Glenwood 21-13, 12-21, 11-15.
Keely Jones paced the Tigers’ attack with 34 kills on the day. Ellie O’Neal added 18 kills.
Ella Blackman dished up 55 set assists and Mariel Ramirez had 31 digs.

Riverside 25-25-25,
Red Oak 21-18-11
Riverside knocked off Red Oak 25-21, 25-18, 25-11 in a battle of ranked teams in Red Oak last Tuesday.
The Class 2A, No. 5 ranked Bulldogs (13-0) hit a blistering .323 on the night with 45 kills. Lili Reed led the way with 15 kills. Sydney Somers and Vivian Gross added 12 kills each.
Red Oak coach Angie Montgomery said a tough match up with a state rated opponent was made tougher by an injury to setter Kaylee Erickson.
“Riverside is every bit as good as their state ranking suggests and I really thought we hung with them really well in the first set and second set until we lost our setter to an injury,” said Red Oak coach Angie Montgomery. “Kinda threw us mentally for a loop and had to regroup quickly to try and switch offenses mid-game and that was super hard to do especially when you are playing such a well-seasoned team.”
Ella Blackman came on to take over primary setting duties and finished with seven assists.
“I was proud of our kids for fighting through some adversity as we have had to do a lot this season,” Montgomery said. “We are still missing one of our starting middles to an illness.  The good news is that it was a great test for us and moving forward we know once all of our pieces are healthy and fall into place, we are going to be a battle tested team and stronger for it in the end.”
Red Oak, ranked No. 11 in the latest Class 1A poll, was led by Keely Jones at the net. The senior smacked 10 kills. Natalie Johnson added seven kills in 12 swings.
“We know we have the pieces; it’s just now about getting those pieces meshing well together through the injuries and illness,” Montgomery said. “Really proud of the mental toughness that we showed though and knowing that we can take a lot of positive from a loss.
Blackman finished with 18 set assists. Mariel Ramirez led the Tiger defense with 14 digs.