Red Oak holds off Clarinda to advance to regional final

It took longer than planned, but the Red Oak Tigers finds themselves in familiar territory in the Class 3A Regionals: one win from a trip back to Cedar Rapids for the State Volleyball Tournament.

The Tigers will travel to Atlantic for the 3A Regional Final Tuesday night as they take on Adel-DeSoto-Minburn at 7 p.m.

Red Oak held off a rallying Clarinda to win its semifinal match 3-2 in front of a jam packed Red Oak High School gymnasium Thursday night to advance to the 3A regional final.

“That was some phenomenal volleyball,” Red Oak Head Volleyball Coach Angie Montgomery said. “We knew that it was going to be a fight. We knew absolutely after the second set that they would not roll over, that we would have to play just as strong.”

Red Oak was able to take a 2-0 lead, however the Cardinals rallied to win games three and four in hopes of keeping their season alive.

“I didn’t feel like we lacked focus as much as we had when we first played them, that was just some good volleyball on both sides,” Montgomery said.

Four of the five games were determined by three points or less. The most crucial of those four was the fifth as Red Oak fought to stay ahead.

“It’s tough when you play somebody three times over the year and you have to meet at this point in the season where it’s win or go home,” Montgomery said. “You’ve got to come out and play smart on the court.”

Red Oak began the fifth game by scoring six of the first seven points; two of those points came on back-to-back kills by freshman Angela Mahoney.

“I just thought, you had to put it down,” Mahoney said. “The line was a great spot for me tonight and I knew I had to go there every time.”

The Cardinals rallied and cut the Tigers lead to 7-5, but Red Oak sped ahead another couple of points to lead 10-6, thanks to a Grace Blomstedt ace, followed by a Blake Bergren kill.

Clarinda rallied once again to tie the match at 10. The two sides traded points, but Clarinda took the lead once during that time 13-12.

The Cardinals lead didn’t last long as a serve falling out of bounds once again tied it at 13 a piece. Blomstedt gave Red Oak the 14-13 lead thanks to a kill and finally a shot out of bounds clinched the regional final berth for the Tigers as they won the deciding fifth game 15-13.

“There’s a lot of momentum going into next week now,” leading setter Maddie Holmgren said after the game.
Game one was close as both teams exchanged and maintained a lead. Early in the game, Red Oak never had a lead greater than three points.

The Cardinals did rally to take the lead and at one point led 16-12.

Red Oak rallied and took back the lead thanks to some blocks up front, as well as kills by sophomore hitter Kate Walker. The Tigers won game one 25-22.

“As a team, we’ve all grown a lot. Our setters are setting great,” Walker said. “Everyone plays great.”
Red Oak had 10 blocks in the match, with Blomstedt responsible for three, while Walker and Bergren each had two.

“We’ve been working on blocking a lot during practice,” Walker said.

Red Oak used the momentum from the game one win to take the lead in the second game and hold on from there. The Tigers easily won game two 25-13.

Montgomery said the team had more aggressive serving during the second game.

“We were serving tough. We knew where we needed to go with the ball,” Montgomery said. “We did a better job of keeping them out of system because it was clear where they were going.”

Game three was close as neither team had a lead greater than three points. With their backs against the wall, the Cardinals took the lead late in the third game to win 25-22.

Red Oak led for much of game four, taking a five-point lead early.

Clarinda rallied and stayed close, however the Tigers were at one time just four points from ending the Cardinals rally.

Clarinda scored eight of the final 10 points though to win game four 25-22.

“They came out strong and we just weren’t as strong there,” Holmgren said.

Walker had a big match for the Tigers, finishing with 18 kills and 17 digs.

Maddie Holmgren was responsible for half of Red Oak’s assists in the match, she had 26, while Makelti White had 18.

Mahoney wasn’t far behind Walker with 16 kills and she was the co-leader in digs along with Josie Snyder, recording 19.

“They really turned it around and showed that they can fight back,” Mahoney said about Clarinda.
For Mahoney, it will be her first time playing in a regional final. The freshman has been solid for the Tigers this season. Mahoney is third on the team in kills (213) and digs (236) and leads the team in serving aces with 48.

“It feels so great to be part of this team. We have so much heart,” Mahoney said. “I’m so glad we made it to the regional final.”

Walker described Mahoney as being phenomenal.

“She’s so great, I’m so proud of her.”

This will be a rematch from last year’s regional semifinal when Red Oak came from two games down to knock off ADM.

“They have a couple of strong hitters that are back from last year’s team and we’re expecting an emotional match,” Montgomery said.