It is starting to pay off for the Redhawks (7-9), as they looked convincing in a 3-0 sweep of GMG (1-7) on Monday night in Garwin.

The Redhawks and Wolverines had a little back-and-forth in the early goings of the first set as the Wolverines took advantage of a couple bad serves by North Tama. But the Redhawks got things going about midway through the set and raced to a 25-12 win, setting the tone for the rest of the day.

Halstead said it was a continuation of a solid weekend, with a win over Waterloo West coming Saturday.

“We brought lots of energy, trying to make the most of opportunities to get better,” Halstead said. “Our goal is to be playing the best ball we can in October.”

T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING - North Tama senior middle hitter Alexis Hansen (13) hits against GMG’s Jordan Yilek during Monday’s Iowa Star Conference South Division volleyball match in Garwin.

GMG has struggled this season and had a difficult time getting going in set two. North Tama jumped out to a 7-1 lead before a timeout was called, and things didn’t get much better after play resumed. North Tama held leads of 19-3 and 22-4 on the way to a dominant 25-6 win in set two, taking complete control of the game and giving GMG a mountain to climb.

North Tama recorded 28 kills in the attack, with Abby DeBoef leading the charge with 13. Alexis Hansen, Jadyn Rausch and Shae Ewoldt tied at four kills, while Mya Sierra had two and Aubree Monat had one. Rausch assisted on 20 of the 28 kills to lead the team. Lainey Willenbring had two, while Monat, DeBoef and Kaitlyn Calderwood got one each. The Redhawks scored 12 aces — five by DeBoef, two each from Monat, Rausch and Willenbring and one from Hansen.

GMG showed fight in the third set — taking the lead early on and going toe-to-toe with the Redhawks until midway through the set when North Tama seemingly found another gear. The Redhawks pulled away and closed out the game with a 25-15 victory.

Seeing the team playing in a lineup that works consistently was a big development for Halstead.

“I think we’ve kind of found a lineup that’s fit and working for us,” Halstead said. “We switched it up, we’ve probably run a total of at least eight-to-10 different lineups. We’re kind of finding a groove.”

T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING

She mentioned that North Tama needed to improve more on the offensive end to compliment the improved defense, which has shown up in the past two weeks. The Redhawks had 39 digs, and Willenbring led the team with 17. Rausch chipped in with nine, while DeBoef had four. Dylan Rohlfsen had three, Calderwood and Ewoldt got two each and Hansen and Monat got one apiece.

The Redhawks play twice in the next two weeks, with their next game coming against Collins-Maxwell Sept. 29 at 7:15 p.m. GMG will host Waterloo Christian Thursday at 7 p.m.