Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: St. Edmond's Maggie Flaherty and Hayden McLaughlin of Algona meet at the net on Thursday in the Gael gym. For more photos, please visit CU.messengernews.net

Thursday night may not have resulted in a win for the St. Edmond volleyball team, but it definitely offered several bright spots moving forward.

The Gaels capped a turbulent week by pushing North Central Conference rival Algona to four sets.

Scores were 25-10, 25-10, 17-25 and 25-21 in favor of the visiting Bulldogs.

“We just kept telling them fundamentals,” SEHS interim head coach Lindsay Heffernan said. “You can only worry about what’s on your side of the court. I thought we really did that after the first two sets. I was just really proud of them for getting to their spots on defense.

“From there, we really started to run the middles a little bit more.”

That success resulted in St. Edmond (6-11 overall, 2-3 in the NCC) taking the third set, which they led throughout in thanks to a 9-0 run early.

Freshman Eden Horn led the way with 10 kills and four blocks. Senior Faith Shirbroun recorded nine kills, and classmate Madi Davis added eight with two serving aces.

Ella Vandi, also a ninth-grader, had three aces. Sophomore Olivia Andrew added a pair of kills.

Vandi, junior Abby Huss and senior Maggie Flaherty each had a kill.

For Davis, it marked her first extended playing time. She was part of a rotation that included junior Sophia Schlienz, Shirbroun, Huss, Vandi and Horn that helped spark the rally.

“Volleyball is a really fun game,” Heffernan said. “I’m really proud of Madi. She stuck it out and I think that’s the biggest thing. She loves the game and she had a great night.”

Davis tallied the winning point in the third set on an ace, capping a 4-0 burst for the Gaels.

For Algona (14-4, 4-1), freshman Kate Limbaugh had a match-high 17 kills. Hayden McLaughlin added nine and Charli Dodds had eight.

The Bulldogs have won three in a row and five of six overall.

Limbaugh’s mother, Algona assistant coach Amber (Holmquist) Limbaugh, played at the University of Nebraska with Horn’s mother and current Iowa Central head volleyball coach Sara Horn.

In the fourth set, the rivals exchanged runs. St. Edmond held a 17-16 lead following back-to-back kills by Horn and an ace by Schlienz. The Bulldogs, though, answered with nine of the final 13 points to secure the match.

“We just have to continue to trust each other,” Heffernan said. “The girls playing in the front row need to know that if they swing and miss, someone will back them up. When we did that, we had a lot of success.”

The Gaels head to Clear Lake on Thursday, while Algona hosts Clarion-Goldfield/Dows for Senior Night the same evening.