Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Meah McCaleb of Fort Dodge reacts after the team scored a point on Tuesday in the Dodger gym. For more photos, please visit CU.messengernews.net

It’s been a learning process for the Fort Dodge volleyball team through the years.

On Tuesday night, the career of the four seniors continued to come full circle.

On an evening meant to honor the 2024 graduates, the Dodgers earned a sense of redemption against Humboldt, sweeping the Wildcats in straight sets on “Pink Out Night” to help find a cure for breast cancer.

FDSH seniors Macy Brown, Sydney Gebers, Mackenzie McIlrath and Olivia Totten played their final match in the Dodger gym. Fort Dodge (14-8 overall) won the opener, 25-21, and closed out with 25-18 and 25-17 victories over the Wildcats (9-13).

Fort Dodge is looking for its first winning season since 2009.

“This senior group is special,” said Dodger head coach Lexi Astor. “They’ve played together for a long time and have been on varsity for three or four years. They have shown growth on the court and have learned a lot in the process.

“Syd (Gebers) has crushed it in her first year of varsity. This group has just really come together.”

In the first tournament weekend of the season last month, the Wildcats beat the Dodgers, 2-1.

“They are definitely a new team since we played them the first time,” said first-year Wildcat head coach Ashlyn Clark. “Kudos to them; they have been playing well.

“We struggled with passing and leadership at times. That’s important to be able to win matches — especially on the road.”

The Dodgers and Wildcats went back and forth in the opening set, with Fort Dodge getting the biggest lead at five (12-7). The Wildcats cut the margin at 14-13, and squads would trade two-point swings throughout the remainder of the match.

Fort Dodge led 23-21 and closed out the opening set 25-21 on a McIlrath kill.

“The girls are getting more comfortable with learning the game and playing with confidence,” Astor said. “They’re now competing to win and learning the lingo of how to play a high level of volleyball.”

Humboldt seemed to turn the tide in the second set, jumping out to a 10-3 lead. Fort Dodge didn’t go away, though, putting together a big 12-point run themselves for a 15-10 advantage thanks to five Meah McCaleb kills during the stretch.

The Wildcats never got back-to-back points after that.

Fort Dodge switched gears in the third set, building a 13-5 edge that stretched to 21-10. The Wildcats did chip into the Dodgers’ lead and crawled back within six points before the home squad closed out the victory.

McCaleb, a junior, had a big night for the Dodgers, going 9-for-9 at the line with 10 digs and 13 kills on 13-for-17 attacking.

“We run a lot of hitting drills to get our percentages up, and our setters are competing for court time,” Astor said. “They have been responding and doing what they’re supposed to.

“Meah had a great night. She helped get us through that second set.”

Brown led the Dodgers at the service line, going 14-for-14 and recording 12 digs. McIlrath was 13-for-14 serving with nine kills, while junior Cadence Touney was 10 of 11.

Sophomore LJ Maehl had four kills and four blocks, while McIlrath had three blocks.

“We are doing a much better job of blocking and staying down on the setter,” Astor said. “We’ve talked about when it is right against the net, we want to hit it at its peak.

“We’ve also done a lot better of playing through chaos and not creating our own.”

The Fort Dodge junior varsity team lost, 21-18 and 21-7. The Fort Dodge freshman team fell, 25-16 and 25-17.

Foreign exchange senior Natia Tsiteladze was also honored on Tuesday.

Fort Dodge is back in action on Saturday when they travel for the Indianola Invitational.