Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: St. Edmond's Faith Shirbroun tries to block Tristyn Wright of Webster City on Tuesday in the Gael gym. For more photos, please visit CU.messengernews.net

Heather Seeden hopes to see a more relaxed version of her St. Edmond volleyball team the next time they take to the court.

Webster City rallied here Tuesday night inside a loud Gael gym to claim a five-set North Central Conference affair in dramatic fashion.

Scores were 25-15, 23-25, 21-25, 25-21 and 15-13.

“I think there has been a lot of pressure on the girls,” Seeden said. “We’ve had a really good season and with that comes a little bit of pressure. I felt like we didn’t handle that very well.

“We just have to get back to having fun and playing loose and relaxed.”

For the Lynx (9-8 overall, 4-0 in the NCC), Marissa Hedeen recorded 30 kills, including six in the fifth and deciding set. Olivia Gallentine added 18 kills, with Addilyn Orton contributing nine kills and four blocks.

St. Edmond (10-6, 2-2) was paced by Mariah Myers, Ava Underberg and Faith Shirbroun. Myers registered 16 kills, while Underberg and Shirbroun each had eight.

“In each huddle during a timeout I tried to remind them to just play loose,” Seeden said. “There are a lot of things we can point out in losses like this but letting them come back in that fourth set was the biggest.

“We lost all the momentum and could never get it back.”

Ava Andrew started off the final set with an ace, but the Lynx quickly scored three straight. From there, the two exchanged points before the Gaels took control with a 5-0 run highlighted by another Andrew ace and a kill from Shirbroun.

Shirbroun picked up her eighth kill of the night to make it 12-10.

That’s where Hedeen — one of six seniors on the Webster City roster — took over. She had back-to-back kills followed by a block to give the Lynx the upper hand.

Hedeen then tallied her 30th kill of the match to make it 14-12 before Underberg got St. Edmond back within a point. The visitors closed it out from there.

“That is a tough, loud gym to play in, and always a good atmosphere for competition,” WCHS head coach Jess Howard said. “The girls did a great job of control what they could, and used the energy from the crowd to overcome how tired they were.

“I feel like their mental toughness was the difference.”

Lauren Gibb chipped in nine kills and two blocks for the Gaels, while Claire O’Connor tallied five kills. Chloe Palmer recorded three kills with a pair of blocks. Andrew finished with six aces.

Tristyn Wright contributed six kills and three blocks to help Webster City remain atop the conference race and improve to 11-1 vs. St. Edmond over the last 12 meetings and 20-5 since 2007.

Up next for the Lynx will be a home match Monday vs. Iowa Falls-Alden. The Gaels head to Algona on Oct. 3.