BCLUW tops St. Edmond in three sets
CONRAD — The sixth-ranked BCLUW volleyball team got to within one win of the state tournament by sweeping Fort Dodge St. Edmond in Monday’s Class 1A Region 5 semifinal, taming the Gaels 25-20, 25-22, 25-14.
The Comets (30-10) will try for their second-straight trip to state when they face Gladbrook-Reinbeck (23-20) in Wednesday’s regional final at 7 p.m. inside the Roundhouse in Marshalltown. BCLUW beat Lynnville-Sully in Marshalltown in last year’s regional finals.
On Monday night,Grace Farnsworth powered the Comets to victory by piling up 18 kills. Olivia Peters and Virginia Kaisand added nine kills apiece, and setter Cassie Nason finished with 36 assists.
The Comets leaned on their stingy defense during the back-and-forth battle with Fort Dodge St. Edmond (19-12), totaling 78 digs on the night. Klayre Gallentine tallied 21 digs, while Farnsworth had 14 and Nason 13. Peters and Raegan Crawford both finished with 10 digs.
Kaisand made two solo blocks to lead the defensive front. BCLUW’s servers chalked up five aces while serving 64-for-67, with Peters going 21-for-22 with two aces to lead the way. Nason was 11-for-12 with two aces, and Farnsworth was 11-for-11 with an ace.