Fort Madison struggles at Mepo quadrangular

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BY PCC STAFF

MEDIAPOLIS - The Lady Hounds struggled with some stiff competition at Thursday's quadrangular at Mediapolis.

The girls fell to Class 2A's second-ranked Mediapolis 12-25, 11-25 and then lost to Class 1A No. 8 Holy Trinity Catholic 12-25. 14-25 before falling the Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont 14-25, 18-25.

Head Coach Kent Bailey said he was mixing in different personnel to help get the Lady Hounds ready for the post season which starts Wednesday. He said the elevated competition was also good going into Class 4A substate on Wednesday against Keokuk.

"It was a good opportunity for our girls to see some great competition. We struggled throughoutthe evening with serve reception which kept us from getting into system with our hitters," he said.

"When we passed the ball well we got good swings, just not enough.We've had some illness and nagging injuries that we hope are healed for next week, but our kids are looking forward to the post seasonand the challenge of beating Keokuk for a third time this season."

Senior Jillian Wiseman led the Hounds hitting going 54-69 with 24 kills and a block. She also had 13 digs on the night, which was second only to Gracie Pumphrey with 15.

Fort Madison Lauren King attacks in the second game of the Hounds loss to Holy Trinity Catholic Thursday at the Mediapolis Invitational. Photo by Chuck Vandenberg/PCC

Junior Lauren Bailey, who averages just over eight assists per game this year, had just 18 in the six games, pointing to Bailey's assessment of the team getting out of system on serves.

Reyna Lampe was 12 of 13 serving with an ace and 12 digs.

In the second game against Holy Trinity, the Hounds had a 5-0 lead to start game behind four straight kills by Wiseman, but HTC came back on a 4-0 run. Bailey had a nice diving dig on a wicked swing by HTC's Claire Pothitakis in the 5-3 point, but Fort Madison couldn't capitalize.

A missed served by the Crusader's Bailey Hellweg brought the Lady Hounds to within one at 10-9, but HTC would go on a 7-3 run capped by an attack error from Lauren King. Fort Madison would score on a defensive error by HTC to make it 17-13, but HTC would only give up one more point and Pothitakis recorded kills on the final three points to put the game away.

The first game saw the Crusaders rush out to a 11-5 lead as Wiseman hit long on three of five attackts in the first half. At 14-9, senior Avery Hopper got back-to-back kills and Pothitakis followed with another to put HTC comfortably in front 17-9.

FMHS's Kailyn Guzman (23) tries to get a block on HTC's Katie Denning's (22) attack during the teams' match Thursday in Mediapolis

HTC would outscore the Hounds 8-3 the rest of the way out to get the win.

The Class 4A Region 8 substate bracket gets underway Wednesday at Fort Madison (14-23) against the Chiefs (9-18) at 7 p.m. The winner will face Burlington at Burlington (24-4) on Tuesday, Oct. 29 beginning at 7 p.m.

On the top side of that bracket Fairfield and Mt. Pleasant will play at Mt. Pleasant on Wednesday with the winner facing Class 4A No. 4 North Scott in North Scott. The title match of the bracket will be played at the top-seeded teams gym.

HTC begins regional action after a first round bye, hosting the winner of Winfield-Mt. Union and Burlington Notre Dame at Holy Trinity at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 28.

bloodhounds, fort madison, Holy Trinity Catholic, Mediapolis, Pen City Current, sports, volleyball

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