In a CIC volleyball match full of momentum swings, Ames got the final say as the Little Cyclones topped Fort Dodge in the Dodger gym on Tuesday night.

The Little Cyclones won the first, third and fifth games. Fort Dodge took the second and fourth.

Scores were 25-14, 23-25, 25-22, 19-25 and 15-13.

“We had them right there and we let it slip away,” said Dodger head coach Tonia Burrell, whose team is now 5-8. “We just have to fight to the finish. We were looking at each other for someone to lead. But they are all capable of leading us.

“The girls wanted this win. They played so hard. I was proud that we didn’t let up. That’s a positive moving forward. We know we can play hard for five games, we just need to finish five games.”

Fort Dodge led 12-9 in the decisive fifth game, but scored just one more point when Ames hit a kill long. The Little Cyclones closed with a 6-1 run.

“It just takes a lot of energy out of us to lose that way,” said Burrell. “It’s just draining.

“This is our home court and we need to show teams we can close them out here.”

Ames never trailed in the first game, jumping out 3-0 and building a 21-11 lead before closing it out.

Just like they did in last week’s loss to Roosevelt, the Dodgers put together a second-game rally – but this time they finished. The Dodgers turned a 10-all tie into a 21-13 advantage. Kacee Gollob and Hannah Amhoff both had big plays at the net during the run.

Ames (4-5) put together a rally of its own, cutting the deficit from 22-14 down to 24-23, but the Dodgers got a kill from Beth Murman to close out the contest.

Fort Dodge stormed out to a 7-0 edge in the fourth game, but again Ames came back and tied it at 8-all.

The Dodgers pushed ahead 11-8, and Ames never got closer than three points. Gollob’s emphatic kill ended things for FDSH.

The fifth game went back and forth. Fort Dodge led 8-5 and 12-10 before Ames’ finally rally.

Fort Dodge had several errors in the final game that allowed Ames to pull away including a net serve and two blocks that went out of bounds.

“We didn’t make Ames earn many points in that last game,” said Burrell. “We have to fight for all the points we get and too many times we let the other team get free points.

“As long as we continue to push forward and build on these games, I see us getting better. Good things will coming our way,” Burrell added.

Gollob and Murman finished with 10 kills each. Gollob added six blocks.

Amhoff and Alexis Erickson had 14 digs each and Amhoff added six ace serves.

Josie Shirbroun and Kaden Pederson were both 17 of 17 serving and Shirbroun added 28 assists.

The Dodgers are off until Tuesday, when they host Marshalltown.

Fort Dodge won the freshman match 25-14, 25-11, while Ames won the JV contest 25-13, 20-25, 16-14.