Tight defense keys Red Oak sweep

RED OAK — With only one player on the roster taller than 5 feet, 9 inches, the Red Oak volleyball team has vaulted into the Hawkeye Ten Conference lead this season with a quick tempo offense and scrappy defense.

Both of those qualities were on display Thursday night in a 25-17, 25-14, 25-11 sweep of visiting Creston.

"Except for when we had Grace (Blomstedt), we have just never really had that size that some teams have," said Red Oak coach Angie Montgomery. "We rely on a quicker tempo and more crafty, finesse type of shots. We try to be that team that frustrates the other team's hitters."

Montgomery said Creston's attack featuring 6-2 middle hitter Kelsey Fields and teammates Samantha Dunphy (6-0), 5-10 juniors Brianna Fields and Morgan Driskell and 5-11 twin sisters Ryli Abildtrup and Kaci Abildtrup presented challenges to her shorter front line. Being in position was the key for the Tigers, who allowed only 10 kills by the Panthers in three sets.

"We knew going in that Creston has size and Kelsey Fields is one of the best middle hitters in the conference," Montgomery said. "She got ahold of a couple tonight and that will happen. Our game plan was to to get hands on it and try to slow the speed down a little bit. We made big digs when we needed to. Not a lot hits the floor with our kids."

Longtime freshman coach Mike McCabe directed the varsity Thursday, assisted by athletic director Scott Driskell, as the two varsity coaches are temporarily sidelined — one by exposure to a positive Covid-19 case and another to a non-Covid related illness. Driskell said he wasn't sure when head coach Traci Haley and assistant Carmalee Woods would return.

The Panthers held a 13-11 lead midway through the opening set and appeared to be staged for a competitive night against the Class 3A 10th-ranked Tigers. But, junior Tory Carrick served two aces during a five-point run to open up a 20-14 Red Oak lead on the way to the 25-17 opening victory.

Creston would never score that many points again in the following two sets.

"I thought we came out and battled hard early," McCabe said. "We made some plays and got some things going. Then I just thought we woke them up, maybe. They stepped it up a notch and we didn't go with them. They have a quick tempo offense and we got caught making switches with our blocks. The ball isn't in the air very long in that tempo of offense."

Mounting their own attack was a work in frustration as well, McCabe said, when the Red Oak defense was consistently in position for the block or dig to keep a point alive. It was also hard to get an offense started against so many ace serves by the Tigers, particularly by Carrick and libero Abbey Jones.

On the other end, Creston had to earn everything it got offensively as Red Oak allowed only one ace serve all night. Ryli Abildtrup had the lone ace serve and ended with a team high four kills. Kelsey Fields finished with three kills, limited to 10 attacks for the night.

"We have good passers back there, but we weren't as consistent tonight and Red Oak is tough off the serve," McCabe said. "They are just really sound fundamentally."

Peyton Rice led Creston with seven digs. Rylie Driskell and Halle Evans each had five setting assists. Dunphy had two of the team's four blocks.

The Panthers fall to 4-7 overall and 2-2 in Hawkeye Ten Conference play, with a triangular scheduled at Atlantic Tuesday against the Trojans and Lewis Central.

Red Oak, now 11-3 and 4-0 in the league, has a showdown for first place in the Hawkeye Ten on Tuesday at Harlan, which entered Thursday night at 4-1 in the conference and 9-2 overall. For the Tigers Thursday, Lexi Johnson finished with 11 kills and eight digs. Abbey Jones led the defense with 14 digs.

Red Oak also swept the junior varsity and freshman matches Thursday. Coach McCabe said Red Oak won the freshman match 25-7, 25-12, 25-14. "We struggled with setting and hitting early but played really well in a 10-10 start to game two," McCabe said.

Red Oak 3, Creston 0

Creston statistics

Serving (aces) — Rylie Driskell 9-10, Ryli Abildtrup 5-6 (1), Sam Dunphy 6-7.

Attacks (kills) — R. Abildtrup 12-12 (4), Kelsey Fields 7-10 (3), Bri Fields 5-6 (2), Dunphy 4-4.

Blocks — Dunphy 2, Morgan Driskell 1, K. Fields 1.

Setting (assists) — R. Driskell 29-34 (5), Halle Evans 25-31 (5).

Digs — Peyton Rice 7, Karley Calvin 4, Maddie Frey 4, R. Driskell 4.