Lynx impressive in win over Dodgers
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It was a tough ending to the regular season for the Fort Dodge volleyball team, so head coach Beth Wilder is hoping the Dodgers can flush Tuesday's match from their minds.
The Dodgers (5-18 overall) dropped a straight three-set match to surging Webster City (19-9) on Senior Night. The Lynx won a tight first set 25-22, then rode the momentum to a 25-12 and 25-10 sweep.
Webster City has now won eight of its last 10 matches.
"If we want to have any chance in the postseason (this Tuesday), we just have to flush this from our memory and move on," Wilder said. "(The Lynx) are a solid team. They have great hitters."
The area rivals went back and forth in the opening set and the Dodgers took a 13-11 lead midway through.
"We kept fighting in the first set," Wilder said. "We were chasing loose balls and hustling and showing energy.
"That's our issue, though: keeping that intensity for the entire match. We have to find that fire consistently against Spencer (for regionals)."
After the score was even at 14-all, Webster City went on an 8-1 run to take a 22-15 advantage. Wilder called a timeout and the Dodgers reeled off five straight points to cut the margin to two at 22-20.
Things went back and forth before the Lynx closed out the Game 1 win.
Holly Schaffer had a big first set with five kills. Grace Nichols added four.
For Webster City, Tristyn Wright and Evie Davis had three kills each in the opener.
"That's a tough court to play on (Dodger gym)," said WCHS head coach Jess Howard. "We had to get acclimated to our surroundings, and I feel like we did that pretty quickly."
The Lynx rode the momentum of the opener into the second set with two big runs. Webster City started the match up 9-5 and then went ahead 19-10 before closing out the match with six of the final eight points.
It was another strong set for the Lynx in the finale. They led 10-4 and 12-7, they went on a 13-3 march to finish the sweep.
Wright had an incredible final set with eight kills. In a mini 6-2 run, she had four kills and two aces for the Lynx.
Wright, who reached the 500 career kill mark last week, had 15 on the night and seven ace serves to power Webster City.
Davis recorded seven kills, while Avery Poppen contributed eight.
Schaffer finished the night with nine kills to lead FDSH, while Nichols tallied five and Brogan Miller had four.
Fort Dodge’s four seniors – Hope Alstott, Ellie Doster, Peyton Walstrom and Syndal Castaneda-Rogers – were recognized for their efforts in the program over the last four seasons last night.
The Dodgers are back in action on Tuesday when they open Class 4A, Region 5 postseason action at Spencer. First serve is set for 7 p.m.