Lady Hounds fall in three to BHS

WEST BURLINGTON — Eventually, Fort Madison volleyball coach Kelly Knustrom said, something will snap into place for the Bloodhounds.
The 25-15, 25-18, 25-11 loss to Burlington on Tuesday night at Loren Walker Arena was a good lesson for the Bloodhounds (4-6 overall, 0-2 Southeast Conference) who had their moments, but not enough of them, against the Grayhounds (12-4, 2-0).
“You just have to trust yourself,” Knustrom said. “Once we can flip that switch and realize that, and play confidently, we can do good things. They’re trained well, they practice well, and if we can do it consistently in games, that will be the turning point for us.”
The Bloodhounds, coming off a sweep of New London on Monday night, had leads in all three sets of this match, but Burlington’s hitters would gain control each time. Fort Madison gave up big runs to the Grayhounds in every set, stretches that would take away any momentum the Bloodhounds had built early.
“We’re not just learning, we are also trying to apply it out on the court,” Knustrom said. “Game one, I thought we were in position on defense, but we didn’t make plays. So that’s what I talked about after that game — go make a play. You’re there, go make a play. And I thought we did that in the second and third games.
“They always want to know what they’re doing wrong, which is great. But I also want them to know what they’re doing right. And we did do a lot of good things tonight.”

The scores in the second and third sets didn’t reflect how the Bloodhounds played, Knustrom said.
“I thought we handled their tips a little better, and I thought our defense played well, but they have such great hitters,” Knustrom said. “They’ve won some big matches this year, and you can tell that in the way they play.”
Knustrom liked how the Bloodhounds served.
“I think we served a little aggressively, and I think we had them out of system, probably a little more than we realized,” Knustrom said. “I think our serve receive was good at times, but it can be better, and everything will fall into place there.”
Dayonna Davis had three kills and nine digs, and was 10 of 11 serving with two aces. Jaycee Fullenkamp had four kills and eight digs, and 6 of 7 serving. Sydney McEntee had two kills. Mackenzie Huebner had three digs and was 5 of 7 serving with an ace. Kylie Lumino was 5 of 5 serving, and added nine digs.
The Bloodhounds are off until next Tuesday’s home match against Mount Pleasant.
“We get a little time off, so we can get some rest and take the time to work on things,” Knustrom said. “I think it’s going to come with this team, we just have to have confidence in ourselves.”