Even though AHS students had a three day weekend for Labor Day, the Trojan volleyball team was putting in work in Coon Rapids on Saturday. The long day proved to be successful, with the Atlantic girls coming in 2nd at the tournament.

The Trojans were slated to take on the hosts for their first matchup. Coming into the tournament, Coon Rapids-Bayard had minimal play time together as a team, having only three matches under their belts so far in the season. Atlantic lost the opening match against Coon Rapids-Bayard 21-13, 21-18.

Next up for the Trojans was Paton-Churdan. The teams played a three set match, with the Trojans snagging the first set 21-17. Paton-Churdan fired back during the second set. Even with superb serving, the Trojans dropped the second set 14-21. In the deciding set, Atlantic limited their opponent’s offense and grabbed the win with a 15-7 decision. Against the Rockets, Atlantic put up four blocks, all of which were split between senior Taylor Hansen and sophomore Haley Rasmussen. This helped limit the Rockets’ hitting, as they were held to 16 kills, whereas the Trojans had 24 during the three set match.

After the victory over Paton-Churdan, the next challenger for the Trojans was Ankeny Christian Academy. Atlantic looked to add another win to the column. Paton-Churdan–whom the Trojans had just beaten–had won a close match against Ankeny Christian Academy earlier on in the day. With this knowledge, the Trojans headed into the match against Ankeny Christian Academy with the mindset of snatching another win.

In the straight set win against Ankeny Christian Academy, the Trojans put a constant offense together and demolished their opponent 21-8, 21-11. Every girl that got the chance to serve claimed an ace. The team total for aces in the Trojan’s third match win was 12.

The girls brought the positive energy along with them to the winner’s bracket. In order to earn a spot in the championship match, the girls first had to defeat the AHSTW Vikings. The Vikings had their fair share of success on the day, as they’d beaten common opponent Coon Rapids-Bayard 2-1, along with a few other schools en route to playing the Trojans. Atlantic looked to put a stop to AHSTW’s victories.

Though they played good volleyball, the Trojans dropped the first set 16-21. The girls rallied back in the second set, another close one, and won 21-18. The tension was high in the final set, as both teams hoped to earn a spot in the championship match. With emotions running high, the Atlantic girls took down their opponent 15-11. The team had 20 kills. Junior Chloe Davis said the play of the tournament occurred during the close match with AHSTW, when sophomore Alyssa Derby “had the best kill. It went right down their throats.”

Following the win against AHSTW, the Trojans headed into the championship match. Their opponent was a solid CAM squad, who had beaten the Trojans two times previously in the season. The girls hoped to break their losing streak against the Cougars and win the Coon Rapids tournament.

CAM won the first set 21-12, in which the Cougars used their previous knowledge of the Trojans’ playing style to clinch the win. The Trojans came back to compete with the opposition in the second set: a nail biter between the two squads. The Trojans came up short to the Cougars for the third time this season, losing the second set 22-20. Atlantic outscored CAM under many categories on the stat sheet, as the team had 17 kills, 17 assists, 35 digs, and seven blocks.

Through five matches, the Trojans saw great improvements. Davis said “we started off slow in the first game, but as the day progressed on, we played a lot more like a team.” The group took home a 2nd place finish, and the knowledge that their hard work is showing results.

This week, the varsity squad doesn’t have any matches. On Saturday, the group will host a tournament in which Treynor, St. Albert, Glenwood, Underwood, and Winterset are notched to attend. The JV group will host a tournament on Thursday. Clarinda, Denison-Schleswig, Harlan, and Red Oak all plan to attend. Davis said she thinks tournament play helps the team better themselves, as they get to play a wider variety of teams and increase their stamina.