The class 4A #9 Knoxville Volleyball Squad will trek to Atlantic this weekend for the Panthers first Saturday meet of the season. Knoxville is currently 3-1 after a sweep of Albia in its conference and home opener on Tuesday and look again to do well in Saturday tournaments to boost the overall profile in the rankings and when regional pairings come out. Knoxville will face a difficult field as ranked teams include class 2A #9 Treynor and class 1A #7 Council Bluffs St. Albert along with Grandview Christian Academy and the host Trojans. Senior Player Ella Breazeale is looking forward to Saturday against team that Knoxville is likely not to see at any other time during the season.

Breazeale: “I think it’s going to be really good for us since we don’t see them a lot and really good to see how we adapt to new teams and how we adjust to new things.”

Coach Mollie Keitges tells KNIA/KRLS Sports this will be the first challenge during a Saturday meet and she wants to see how her team handles an early start and multiple matches in a day.

Keitges: “It’s just a really nice test this early on in the season. Our big focus is on Saturdays where we play around 80% of our games on Saturdays or in tournaments, so it’ll be nice to see how the girls do in a tournament and it’ll also be nice to be together for the weekend.”

First matches are scheduled for 9:00 Saturday morning. Hear from Keitges on Saturday Hy-Vee Radio Coaches Corner on KNIA/KRLS and find an interview with Breazeale that aired on Wednesday’s Radio Sports Page on kniakrls.com.