Cornbelt powers drop Raiders

FENTON -- A pair of the Cornbelt Conference's strongest imposed their wills on Ruthven-Ayrshire Thursday in a league double dual as North Sentral Kossuth and West Bend-Mallard earned victories over the Raiders.

North Sentral Kossuth surrendered 35 points, winning 25-8, 25-7, 25-20; and West Bend-Mallard gave up just 32 points to the Raiders in a 25-5, 25-8, 25-19 decision.

"This was certainly another tough night for us," said Ruthven-Ayrshire head coach Kim Sierck. "It just seemed like it took us until game three in both matches to get things rolling. I was proud how the girls picked things up in those two games, but we can't wait that long to make a move."

Ale Blackburn went 9-for-10 in hitting with five kills. She added five digs. Sadie Forey had nine digs, was 11-for-16 in hitting with five kills, and added two aces on 14-for-15 serving. Jessica Larson had four digs and three aces on 11-of-12 serving. Megan Alexander had 10 assists, Amanda Long had seven digs.

"We were so sluggish and out of sync with our passing, and it is really difficult to get any points on the board if you can't get the offense going," Sierck commented.