The Atlantic Trojans knew it would be a tall order as they took on St. Albert last Thursday on the volleyball court. All season, the Saintes have been ranked in the top 10 for class 2A, with their highest position at 7th. St. Albert came to town with an exciting 3-2 win over the top team in 3A and in the Hawkeye 10 Conference, Kuemper Catholic. The Saintes handed Kuemper their first loss this season. Atlantic came into the match with a close straight set loss to school rival Harlan.

The two JV teams met for the first time this season. Atlantic snagged the first set against the Saintes, but the opposition took the next two sets and the win.

For the varsity match, Atlantic looked to fair better against the Saintes, who had previously beaten the Trojans at a tournament 21-10, 21-10. The Trojans served first but a quality offense by St. Albert resulted in the team falling behind quickly 10-2. The Trojans scored three successive points, forcing St. Albert to call a timeout at 13-6. Following the timeout, the Saintes strung points together and took the first set 25-11. In the first set, there were four different times St. Albert had put three or more points up in a row.

Serve receive errors plagued the Trojans in the second set. This limited the offense of the hometown team and contributed to the Saintes winning the second set 25-7.

In the third set, the Trojans trailed 3-0 when a ball hit out of play by the challengers caused Atlantic to get the volleyball back. Sophomore Haley Rasmussen stepped in to serve, and helped the Trojans take the lead for the first time that night. The Trojans snatched seven points in a row and led the Saintes 7-3. St. Albert started to make a comeback, but a hit by sophomore Alyssa Derby halted the run and kept the lead at 8-6.

The Trojans maintained the lead in the third set until St. Albert went on their largest run of the night, notching twelve consecutive points. This put the score at 20-12. The Trojans continued to fight, but lost the final set 25-14.

Through three sets, the Trojans went 27 for 29 from behind the line. They also slated 37 digs on the stat sheet. Derby led the group with 12, with libero Kenzie Waters close behind with 10.

The Trojans dropped their fourth conference game. The next chance for Atlantic to go for a win against a conference opponent is Tuesday in Creston.