Tigers sweep Nevada Cubs, move on to state semifinal

 After a slow and shaky start the Red Oak Tigers swept the Nevada Cubs 3-0 in Class 3A quarterfinal action at the U.S. Cellular Center on Wednesday, Nov. 13, with scores of 26-24, 25-15, and 25-19.

In the first set, Nevada took the lead at point six and widened the gap to a 16-9 lead before the Tigers began creeping closer. The Cubs were ahead by eight, leading 20-12, then the Tigers rallied and knotted the score at 21, finally taking the lead at 25-24, and winning the next point on a Sophie Walker kill to take the first set. 

“I would say our nerves got the best of us in that first set,” Chloe Johnson said. “Then after that, we knew our game and we knew we could beat them. We were confident.”

The second set was all Red Oak, as they went on a 9-7 run, then extended the lead to 17-7 behind the serving of Lexi Johnson. The Tigers continued to add multiple points to each point from the Cubs, and ended set two on a Lexi Johnson kill.

Red Oak held a 9-2 early lead in the third set, and extended that to 17-9 before the Cubs began to rally. However, the Tigers continued to play their game and win the match to advance to the semifinal tomorrow at 2 p.m. with Kuemper Catholic.

L. Johnson ended with a .474 hitting percentage on 10 kills. She had one ace, 17 digs, and three total blocks; Walker had 14 kills, 14 digs, one ace; Allie West four kills, one ace, three digs; Chloe DeVries 10 assists, five digs; Ellie Rengstorf 12 assists, four digs; Tory Carrick three kills, five assists, two digs, two blocks; C. Johnson nine kills, one assist, eight digs; and Abbey Jones two kills, 11 assists, one ace, seven digs.