Allen Community Colleges’ volleyball team found the right formula down the stretch in three consecutive sets Wednesday, to finish off a thrilling, but quick, 3-0 romp over visiting Labette.
In three nearly carbon-copy sets, Allen and Labette traded scoring runs down to the finish, before ACC ended each with a flourish.
The Red Devils scored the last two points in all three sets to finish off a 25-23, 27-25, 25-23 victory.
“We were happy to come out like that tonight,” ACC head coach Whitney Shaw said, noting the Red Devils were coming off a tough week with road losses at Cowley and at Ottawa University’s junior varsity.
“Cowley is very good,” she said. “Losing that one, we could swallow. Losing to the Ottawa JV was a little tougher to take. We didn’t play like we should have.”
But the little errors that plagued the Red Devils last week were largely eliminated in Wednesday’s victory.
Playing in front of an energized student section, Allen adapted quickly after shuffling its lineup due to injuries in the middle.
Outside hitter Madison Saia was moved from the outside to the middle.
“That poor girl,” Shaw said. “I’ve put her in every spot possible this season, because she’s so versatile. She did a really good job in the middle.”
With Saia helping shore up Allen’s defense, the Red Devils’ Gabriela Dominguez, Patricia Rodriguez and Bethany Williams were able to attack from the outside. 
Dominguez racked up 12 kills, Williams 11 and Rodriguez — inserted into the lineup to fill the gap left by Saia’s shift to the middle — had eight. Saia, meanwhile, had five kills of her own from the middle.
Shaw admitted she was uncertain who would man the spot until she handed in her lineup card at the start of the match.
“Patricia did a good job,” Shaw said of the transfer from Frontier Community College. “She stepped up. I always feel good about her mentality. Nothing ever gets too shaky for her.”
Ariana Compean had 37 set assists and three service aces. Alexis Hafenstine led with 18 digs, followed by Karsyn Smith and Andrea Maldonado with 11 apiece. Sadie Bakeberg had a pair of blocks as well.
One of the primary keys to victory, Shaw said, was Allen’s ability to avoid the mistakes Labette could not.
