-Messenger Photo by Britt Kudla Beth Murman of Fort Dodge dives for a ball against Urbandale on Tuesday

It was an emotional Senior Night for Fort Dodge head volleyball coach Tonia Burrell here Tuesday night.

The Dodgers honored their seniors prior to the match vs. No. 13 Urbandale. The group were freshmen Burrell’s first season as head coach at FDSH.

Fort Dodge, though, was unable to pull the upset, falling in three to the J-Hawks. Scores were 25-16, 25-22 and 25-11.

“These seniors mean a lot to me,” said Burrell, a former Dodger herself. “They’ve worked so hard and stuck with it. We definitely haven’t had things easy, but I love all of them.”

Beth Murman, one of those seniors, had eight kills, two blocks and 10 dig on the night, with classmate Josie Shirbroun was a perfect 9-for-9 serving with 11 assists and 13 digs.

Kaden Pederson, also a senior, had 13 digs.

“The kids competed and showed signs of being aggressive,” Burrell said. “We just didn’t do that enough or early enough in the match. It’s like we have to get warmed up before we can start playing and against good teams, you can’t afford to do that.”

Kacee Gollob led the Dodgers with 11 kills and two aces, serving 11 of 12 for the match. Ebonee Altman had six kills and Kathryn Cochrane 10 assists.

Fort Dodge held the lead during the second set, putting together a 10-4 run to go up 19-17. The two exchanged points before Urbandale closed it out with three straight.

“They are a very good team and showed that,” Burrell said. “They are tall, athletic and make you pay for your mistakes. In that second set, we had just one error and that’s why we were in it.

“We have to turn that corner and to do that, we have to not make mistakes.”

Along with Murman, Shirbroun and Pederson, the Dodgers also honored seniors Dereka Burton, Raeya Love, Kenzie Fuller, Nicolina Lunde and Emily Pecka.

Urbandale also swept the junior varsity (21-16, 21-19), sophomore (21-16, 21-12) and freshman (A: 21-15, 21-19; B: 21-12, 21-9) matches.

Fort Dodge travels to Des Moines Roosevelt on Thursday before heading to Mason City Saturday for tournament play.