Lady Hounds take Washington to 5

FORT MADISON - It felt a lot like the night before.
Fort Madison’s volleyball team won the first set of Tuesday’s Southeast Conference match against Washington, then lost the next two.
The Bloodhounds, though, would force a fifth and deciding set, eventually falling to the Demons 19-25, 25-12, 25-12, 22-25, 15-8.
What coach Kelly Knustrom saw out of her team, though, made her proud.
“They came together as a team,” Knustrom said.
The first three sets felt like Monday’s loss at West Hancock, when the Bloodhounds (10-12 overall, 2-3 conference) won the first set then lost the next two.
“We had a good first game last night and then the wheels fell off,” Knustrom said. “Then when it happened again tonight, I think we thought, ‘Here we go again.’ But instead we talked through it, made some plays, and fought back.”
The fourth set felt nothing like the previous two, and Knustrom knew why.
“Passing,” she said. “Our serve receive was better. Our passing was better. When things go good for us, they really go good. And then when things start to break down, they really break down. We weren’t getting off good passes and our hitters weren’t getting the ball like they should. In that fourth game, we got back to how we know we can play.”
The power of Washington (9-13, 4-1) got to the Bloodhounds at the start of the fourth game. Fort Madison led 3-1 before the Demons rattled off six consecutive points, four coming from kills from Layla Green, Reagan Miller and Sarah Berdo. The Bloodhounds rallied, getting to within 9-6 after a kill from Alaina Schwerin, then Washington scored the next four points, two coming on kills from Lauren Drahota.

“There were times I thought we defended them well, but they are tough up front,” Knustrom said.
Fort Madison took advantage of some of the Demons’ hitting errors to win the first set after falling behind 10-7 early. But Washington put together big scoring runs in the second and third sets, with stretches of seven consecutive points in each set.
The Bloodhounds are off until the first round of the conference tournament Monday at Fairfield High School.
“There will be some things we’ll get to work on in practice for the rest of the week, then we’ll get back at it on Monday,” Knustrom said.
FORT MADISON STATISTICS
Kylie Lumino — 10-11 serving with 2 aces. 27 digs
Alaina Schwerin — 10-10 serving. 4 blocks. 6 kills
Adelyn Lampe — 5-5 serving, 2 digs.
Natalee Nelson — 10-11 serving with 1 ace. 3 blocks. 7 kills
Lyla Smith — 13-13 serving with 1 ace. 20 digs, 6 kills.
Jordyn Grisham — 17 assists and 15 digs