Lady Hounds take some lumps at Bondurant

BONDURANT – The Lady Hounds volleyball team knew they would take some lumps at this weekend’s Skip Anderson Tournament at Bondurant-Farrar. They also knew those lumps could pay dividends over the next several months.
The Bloodhounds won just one set Saturday three hours from home, when they took one from Boone 18-21, 21-16, 9-15, before going 0-10 the rest of the day.
“We went 0-6 on the day. We played a hard-fought game against a pretty evenly matched Boone team and fell in three,” said Head Coach Kelly Knustrom.
Fort Madison then ran up against the tougher part of the draw to Indianola (0-2), Pella Christian (0-2), Red Oak (0-2), Ames (0-2), and Wapsie Valley (0-2). 
“The box scores won't show the improvements we made from Thursday night's game,” Knustrom said.
The Hounds lost a four-set match to cross-country rival Central Lee Thursday night in the brand new auxiliary gym at Fort Madison Junior/Senior High.
“With only one practice after our loss to Central Lee, we had little time to work through some of the mistakes I saw,” Knustrom said.
“At practice on Friday, we talked about the hitting mistakes we made and strategized ways to cut down on some unforced errors. I thought they put that information into practice nicely on Saturday and hit more efficiently.
“Our defense is getting better and better every day. They saw some very relentless hitters all day Saturday and made some impressive plays. All around, we will be better for making the long trip to Bondurant and playing in that tournament."
Junior middle hitter Sydney Davis led the ladies with 19 kills on the day. Dayonna Davis and Brylie Lorence at 11 and seven kills, respectively, at the net. Junior Mara Smith had 35 assists.
The Bloodhounds (0-7), host Washington Tuesday night again in the auxiliary gym at 7:30 p.m., to open up Southeast Conference action.