Red Oak volleyball rebounds in Glenwood

The Tigers knew they had two more tests before their first Saturday off since the beginning of their season.

They would need to knock off the conference leaders in a home game against Harlan and travel to Glenwood to keep their spot in the Hawkeye Ten.

Tuesday, Red Oak (8-6 overall, 3-2 in conference) was unable to beat the Harlan Cyclones, losing 3-1 in a match that would put the two teams even for second place in the Hawkeye Ten.

After the Cyclone pulled out to a 15-7 lead, the Tigers regained their composure during a time out and came out firing.

Outscoring Harlan 13-2 behind the serves of Rachel Pierson, Liz Cooper, and Jami Redel along with strong front line play of Lauren Fellers and Gabi French.

“We felt really good coming out of that first game,” Red Oak head coach Angie Montgomery said. “We fought back and played well as a team.”

After a small comeback by the Cyclones the Tigers won the first game of the match, 25-20.

The second game was close all the way through, without either team leading by more than four at any point.

The Tigers cut Harlan’s lead to 21-20 but then couldn’t hang on as the Cyclones finished the second, 25-22, on a kill error.

Red Oak was unable to bounce back losing the third game 25-17 and the fourth 25-20.

“We’ve really struggled recently with our passing game, which is a surprise because that’s been a strong suit of ours,” Montgomery said. “After that second game we just came out flat and couldn’t regain any kind of momentum.”

On Thursday, the Tigers traveled to Glenwood to take on the Rams (6-4, 1-2 in conference).

Red Oak thrived in the hostile environment winning in three games, 25-21, 25-23, 25-22.

Led by the one-two punch of Fellers (14 kills, 3 blocks) and French (10 kills, 2 blocks) on the front line, and the passing of Pierson (20 assists) and Kaely Piller (17 assists) the Tigers found the edge in all three games.

Cooper led the team with two aces and was a perfect 16-for-16 from the serve line.

Up Next

The Tigers travel to Clarinda, Tuesday, to face the high flying Laura Steinauer and the Cardinals in a conference game.

The Tigers met Clarinda earlier this season at the Red Oak Tournament where they defeated the Cardinals 2-0.

Saturday, Red Oak travels to the Tri-Center Tournament in Neola.

Tournament play starts at 9 a.m.