Anna Lursen hits the ball over the net for St. Edmond on Thursday night in the Gael gym.

The St. Edmond volleyball team came firing out of the gates here Thursday night in their North Central Conference opener.

Unfortunately for the Gaels, that momentum would eventual evaporate, as Hampton-Dumont/CAL claimed a five-set win.

Scores were 8-25, 25-23, 25-20, 18-25 and 15-12.

The Bulldogs (1-1 overall, 1-0 in league) withstood an incredible start by Ava Underberg, as the senior reeled off seven aces during a 9-0 run for St. Edmond (3-4, 0-1). She would finish the match with 13 aces in all.

But the Gaels committed 16 service errors, including six during the second set when Hampton-Dumont/CAL used a 9-3 run to close the set in its favor.

“Someone has to figure out how to get the ball to the floor for us,” SEHS head coach Heather Seeden said. “That blame goes to me. We have to have someone willing to step up and make a big swing.

“I think we kind of just expected the second set to go the same way as the first and we didn’t adjust. We got tight and started making mistakes.”

Coming off a three-set sweep of Storm Lake earlier this week, St. Edmond received as 12-kill, five-block performance from freshman Eden Horn. Underberg and junior Chloe Palmer each added five kills, as senior Faith Shirbroun recorded four with five aces.

“I thought we had way too many serving errors again,” Seeden said. “We became afraid of the ball getting blocked or making a mistake and we have to realize that you can play through those mistakes.”

The Bulldogs jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the third set and never trailed. The roster features zero seniors, as junior Madison Heilskov had 10 kills and three aces while classmate Maren Subbert added five kills and nine blocks.

With their backs against the wall in the fourth, the Gaels rallied, putting together a 9-0 run highlighted by three Shirbroun aces to force a deciding fifth set. Leading 8-6, St. Edmond would see a 5-2 run by Hampton-Dumont/CAL put them behind for good, as the two exchanged points.

Subbert finished the match off with back-to-back kills, including a game-winner. The Bulldogs have won three in a row and four of five in the series.

Anna Lursen and Abby Huss both had three kills for the Gaels, as Huss added three aces. Ava Andrew finished with four aces and a kill while Palmer added two aces.

St. Edmond is off now until they host Iowa Falls-Alden next Thursday at 7 p.m.