Red Oak advances to final with Clarinda win
RED OAK — Thanks to Red Oak’s win Thursday night at home against Clarinda, the Tigers have a chance to clinch their second straight state volleyball tournament trip.
The Tigers won the match 3-1 against Clarinda and will play Albia Tuesday night in Creston for the 3A regional final.
“I think it’s evident from even just Monday night [against Clarke], we’re really peaking and we’re starting to gel as a group,” Red Oak Coach Angela Montgomery said.
It was Clarinda who struck first though when they jumped out to an early lead and went on to win game one 25-19.
The Tigers fought back, but weren’t able to take the lead from the Cardinals.
“I think there was good volleyball going on both sides of the court,” Montgomery said. “We were making some good plays; I think they were making more of them.”
Game two was tight early as both teams matched each other point for point.
Red Oak took the lead, thanks in part to points by both Kate Walker and Angela Mahoney.
“We didn’t have as much trouble with the blocks,” Mahone said. “We were definitely getting through.”
Clarinda rallied to tie the game at 14-14, forcing Red Oak to use a time out.
The two teams matched each other in points once again, until Red Oak took the lead at 18-17. The Cardinals scored one more point in the game as kills by Walker and Grace Blomstedt, as well as an ace by Makelti White, pulled them ahead. A block gave Red Oak the final point as they tied the match 1-1 with a 25-18 win.
“Whatever the outcome, we felt it wasn’t going to be a five-setter,” Montgomery said.
Clarinda briefly squashed the Red Oak momentum by scoring four of the first five points to start game three.
Red Oak clawed back though, tying the game 6-6 and forcing Clarinda to burn a timeout.
From there, the Tigers rallied to score 10 of the next 14 points to take a 16-10 lead. Clarinda crept closer though and trailed by two points during several parts of the game.
“We just stayed fired up and that kind of got in their heads a little bit and we took control from there,” Mahoney said.
Red Oak however stayed in the lead and kills by both Walker and Courtney Billings gave Red Oak the 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-18 game three win.
It was one of two kills for Billings, one of the setters for Red Oak. Billings finished with a season-high 31 assists.
“I knew I had to get the ball to my hitters, and I knew if I did, they were going to put it away,” Billings said. “I knew that had to happen.”
The Tigers began game four by jumping out to a 6-3 lead, forcing Clarinda to use a timeout.
Billings, Blomstedt, Mahoney, Walker and Madison Gilbert all stepped in to score points and keep Red Oak ahead, never giving up the lead. Red Oak won game four 25-18.
This will be Red Oak’s fourth consecutive trip to the regional finals. The last time Red Oak missed out on the regional finals was 2009.
Three Red Oak players finished with double-digit kills and double-digit digs. Walker led the way with 22 kills and 18 digs. Mahoney finished with 15 kills and 13 digs.
Blomstedt had 11 kills and 15 digs. Montgomery thought Blomstedt did a great job digging in the back row for Red Oak.
“She did a fantastic job of keeping balls in play, taking some great digs down the line early to make them go across,” Montgomery said. “It was just a great effort tonight.”
Billings and Gilbert each had two kills, while Blake Bergren had one.
Red Oak finished with 53 assists in the win. In addition to Billings, White had 15, while Bergren had five and Blomstedt recorded two.
White also had a big match serving as she was 16-for-18 with three aces.
Red Oak 3, Clarke 0
The Tigers started the regional tournament with an easy quarterfinals win at home against Clarke, last Monday.
Red Oak won 25-6, 25-8 and 25-13. In all three games, Red Oak pulled ahead for double-digit leads as the match ended in less than an hour.
Blomstedt and Walker each had 12 kills to lead the Tigers, while Mahoney had seven kills. Walker’s six digs was a team-high, while White (13), Billings (11) and Bergren (five) combined for 29 of Red Oak’s 34 assists in the win.
Red Oak had a big match serving the ball with 12 aces.
McKenna Mertz led with four aces, while Billings had three and Mahoney recorded two.
Regional Final
Red Oak has their sights set on the Albia Lady Dees. Albia reached the regional final with wins against Centerville and Interstate 35, both 3-0.
The Lady Dees have two senior hitters, who both have more than 200 kills this season. Hannah Dustin (247) and Brooke Bettis (212) lead the way for Albia.
“We know they’ve got a couple big hitters,” Montgomery said. “Their record isn’t as impressive as people in our conference, but I think one thing that our conference and Clarinda will do is really prepare for that team.”
The action starts at Creston High School at 7 p.m. Tuesday.