The conference grind continued on Thursday for the Trojan volleyball team when they played St. Albert. The Saintes were ranked #2 in class 1A, and held a record of 12-6. 

Earlier in the season, Atlantic played St. Albert in tournament play. At the Trojan Invitational, St. Albert took the match in straight sets, 21-16, 21-15. The team would also go on to win the tournament. A positive in the previous match for Atlantic was their defense. In order to hang with the Saintes this time around, the Trojans would need to put up blocks on the Saintes’ power hitting. 

The two teams took the floor in the conference matchup. Atlantic quickly fell behind due to serve-receive errors. The first set was over quickly, with St. Albert up by one set, 25-12.

In the second set, the opposition proved why they were ranked second in their class. The Saintes continued to spike the ball, finding an open spot on the floor. Due to the pure power behind the attacks, Atlantic was unable to keep up, and lost the second set, 25-12.

The Trojan defense stepped up in the third set. In order to keep the ball in play, the Atlantic girls put together a stronger passing game and hung with St. Albert. However, the team ran out of real estate and lost the match in straight sets. 

The Trojans put together a strong showing from behind the service line. The girls made 39 of their 41 serves over and in, producing a serving efficiency of 0.951. Junior Alyssa Derby had the lone ace.

On the defensive side of the game, Atlantic slated 46 digs on the stat sheet. Junior Mia Trotter was all over the floor with 20, followed by Derby with nine, and senior Kenzie Waters with eight. 

Next up for Trojan volleyball is a triangular with Creston and Lewis Central at home. Both matches are for conference credit.