The JV volleyball squad gained some experience as they hosted their first tournament on Thursday. Prior to the tournament, the team had only one match under their belts–a straight set loss to a tough Glenwood group on the road.

The first match to get underway among the five teams present was the Trojans taking on the Harlan Cyclones. The Trojans started off solid as junior Emma Templeton led the way with successful serves. In the first set, the lead changed three times, as the Cyclones attempted to catch up to the Trojans. The hometown team was always one step ahead, and claimed the first set 21-19.

The girls continued to rally for the next two sets. The Trojans made some good plays, but Harlan was always there with a counter attack to shut them down. They dropped the last two sets by the scores of 6-21, and 5-15.

Immediately after the three set loss to Harlan, Atlantic looked to grab a W against Denison-Schleswig, who had just lost to Clarinda. Once again, the Trojans started strong and hung on during the beginning of both sets for the first dozen possessions. However, the group lost steam as Denison-Schleswig piled up the points and walked away with the victory 21-12, 21-13.

Next up for the Trojans was Clarinda, who had just fought in a long match with Harlan. In the two set match–which the Trojans lost 21-10, 21-9–the group had three kills, as freshmen Malena Woodward and Reagan Leonard, and sophomore Maycie Waters each snatched a kill on the stat sheet. Another high point of the match was the group’s ability to keep fighting to get the ball back over the net and onto Clarinda’s court.

After a short break, the Trojans got back on court for their final match of the night against Red Oak. During their final match, four of six girls on the Trojan team went 1.000 from behind the service line. Woodward snatched the lone ace. Though the Trojan’s serving game was impressive, they made mistakes in key moments and Red Oak won the match 21-8, 21-11.

All throughout the night, the bright spot for the Atlantic JV team was quality serving. Freshman Lexie Trotter said the best offense the Trojans set up all night was on the group’s serving points. As for tasks to be improved on, Woodward and Trotter both agreed the group needs to work on communicating with one another and getting the ball out of the net in order to see success.