Trending
Beth Wilder wanted her team to let loose at home on Tuesday.
The Fort Dodge volleyball squad did exactly that, beating Des Moines North in straight sets.
The Dodgers (3-14 overall, 3-3 in the Iowa Alliance Conference) won the opener 25-15, the second set 25-16, and closed out the Polar Bears (3-14, 3-3) with a 25-9 triumph in the last game.
FDSH was in control the entire night, then closed out North emphatically in the final set. The Polar Bears took an early 6-3 lead in Game 3, but a 16-0 answer by the Dodgers put the match out of reach.
"I wasn't going to call a timeout," Wilder said. "I wanted them to figure it out. We talked about reacting the right way I wanted them to do it on their own.
"The tighter we get we tend to struggle, so I wanted them to (persevere) on the fly."
Senior Hope Alstott was at the service line for 15 points, recording four aces in that stretch. Fort Dodge capped off a 22-3 run for the league victory.
"Hope started to serve aggressively in the third set," Wilder said. "She wasn’t doing that as much earlier in the match. So we kept rolling with it. We wanted to come out looking dominant and acting dominant."
Juniors Grace Nichols and Adyson Friesth came up big in the set. Nichols had six kills and a block, while Friesth had seven kills.
The Polar Bears scored the first point in every set, but the Dodgers would always answer. In the opener, a 6-0 run by the Dodgers gave them a 10-2 lead. The Polar Bears would get within five at 14-8, but Fort Dodge outscored them the rest of the way at 12-7.
It was back and forth in the second set early, as the teams fought to a 14-14 tie with seven different lead changes. The Dodgers scored seven straight points after trailing 14-12, though, and pulled away with a 12-2 surge.
Friesth (11) and Nichols (10) were the kills leaders, while Nichols had two solo blocks and one assist.
"Grace needed that (performance)," Wilder said. "She got that boost and had a smile on her face.
"She flipped a switch."
Senior Ellie Doster had 11 assists and Friesth added nine. Sophomore Holly Schaffer tallied nine digs and Alstott recorded five.
Alstott had seven ace serves on the night.
Fort Dodge is back in action on Thursday at Des Moines East.