RUSSELLVILLE - The Lady Indians suffered their first loss of the season Monday night, including their first set loss, losing in straight sets to Linn, 25-20, 25-22.
Russellville beat Bunceton and North Callaway 2-0 on the road to open up its season.
"Our passing wasn't quite where its been," Russellville head coach Jerri Groves said. "We need to work on some things fundamentally to get their passing better."
The first set featured a lot of back-and-forth action early, with the teams trading the lead three times before Linn grapped control. With the Lady Wildcats leading 6-2, Russellville's Kristen Hallford used a couple of serving aces to tie the game at 6, then take a 7-6 lead.
"Kristen Hallford has definitely been an asset to us in our serve," Groves said. "Last week, I believe she had 16 serves in the game last week. She has a very strong serve.
The Lady Wildcats regained the lead 8-7, and with the help of a long run, Linn pushed its lead to 16-8. Linn scored 10-of-12 points after Russellville scored four straight to tie the game at 6.
But the Lady Indians weren't done. They cut the lead to 19-16 after scoring eight-of-11 points. Then, Linn jumped back up 23-16, and Russellville came back to 23-20.
"One thing I always try to instill in my girls is just to keep your spirits up," Groves said. "I have girls who have heart and they want to win."
Russellville ultimately lost the first set on the next two points.
The Lady Indians opened up the second set on fire, racing out to a 5-0 lead. When Linn fought back to cut the deficit to 8-6, a Hallford serving ace, an Olivia Windsor kill and a couple of errors on Linn, allowed Russellville to build a 15-7 advantage.
"I told them, "you guys have fought to hard to let it go now. So go out there, keep fighting, play like the Lady Indians I know you are and show them what you've got'" Groves told her team in-between sets.
After a timeout by Linn, the Lady Wildcats went on another tear. It all started when Makayla Koenigsfeld recorded a kill, then Koenigsfeld had three aces in four serves to cut the Russellville lead to 15-13.
The Lady Indians scored the next two points, but Linn went on a seven-point run to regain the lead for good.
"We just made some minor mistakes, being in the net, hitting the balls out," Groves said." Just some of those fundamental things we're going to have to work on."
Russellville (2-1, 0-1 Show-Me Conference) travels to Chamois Thursday at 6 p.m.