The new-look ADM volleyball team will play in its first conference match of the year Tuesday night at Boone, a week after opening the season with a bang by going 4-1 and taking second place at the Newton Invitational.

Tigers head coach Mary Beth Scott said the time away from competition was beneficial from both a rest and preparation standpoint.

“It was kind of a relaxing break,” Scott said. “We did do a scrimmage on Thursday. We went to Ankeny and faced [Ankeny] Centennial and Ankeny [High] and a few other teams, so we’re not obviously afraid to play the big [Class] 5A schools, and that certainly kind of showed some things we need to work on. We’re certainly ready — we want to be playing.”

The 12th-ranked Tigers passed their first test against outside competition in flying colors with the strong showing at Newton,  especially considering a number of players were trying new positions.

Even with that success, Scott said she plans to make some changes, and that the upcoming busy week of matches, which includes the home Tiger Invitational on Thursday and a trip to Valley High School in West Des Moines against primarily Class 5A competition on Saturday, will give her a good read on the state of her team.

“We’re going to get a really good feel for what we can accomplish [this season],” she said. “We play some really tough competition this week, so it’s going to be an interesting week. I kind of tweaked the lineup the other day, and so I’m going for a different lineup than what I did at the Newton tournament, so I’m kind of anxious to see how that plays out.”