Tigers win the close ones, sweep Cyclone netters

 HARLAN (Sept. 25) -- Five times on Tuesday night, the Harlan Community volleyball team had a set point to win either the first or third game vs. Red Oak.
 And all five times, the visiting Tigers made a play at the net - usually by Chloe Johnson or Sophie Walker - to prevent a Cyclone victory.
 The result was a sweep and a lot of ‘what ifs’ as the 11th-ranked (3A) Tigers topped HCHS 26-24, 25-14, 29-27 on Teal Out Night for ovarian cancer awareness.
 The match featured three very different sets, two of which easily could have gone the Cyclones’ way.
 They let a 10-2 lead slip away in set one, recovered to go ahead 24-22 but couldn’t finish the deal. Red Oak then scored the first nine points of set two and squelched a Harlan comeback attempt.
 In the third set, HCHS fell behind 8-4 but fought back the whole way and finally took the lead at 24-23, 25-24 and 27-26. Once again Red Oak persevered, getting four late kills/tips from Johnson to end the match.
 HCHS dropped to 10-14 overall and 2-4 in Hawkeye Ten Conference matches. The Tigers are 11-9 and 3-2, respectively.

Red Oak 26-25-29, HCHS 24-14-27
Harlan Community Stat Leaders
 Serving: 57/65 (87.7%), 6 aces -- Haley Manz 21/22 (5 aces), Olivia Petersen 8/8.
 Hitting: 88/104, 32 kills (10.7 per set), .154 kill eff. -- Petersen 15/15, 7 kills (.467 eff.); Anna Ahrenholtz 18/20, 7 kills (.250); Hayley Hopkins 22/27, 7 kills (.074); Lauren Andersen 10/12, 5 kills (.250).
 Assists: 30 -- Kara Weis 29, Hall 1. Blocks: 7 -- Lauren Andersen 4 (1 solo).
 Digs: 47 -- Weis 10, Hall 10, Juhl 8, Lindsey Andersen 7.
 Serve Receive Average: 2.37/3.00 (71 att.) -- Ahrenholtz 3.00 (2), Hopkins 2.64 (22), Lindsey Andersen 2.40 (20).