CONRAD — You can’t start a fire without a spark, or without air.

The BCLUW volleyball team smothered Fort Dodge St. Edmond’s comeback attempt and advanced back to the regional finals for the third year in a row, racking up a 3-0 victory over the Gaels in Monday night’s Class 1A Region 8 semifinal.

The sixth-ranked Comets (36-8) will face No. 7 Ankeny Christian Academy (28-13) in Wednesday’s regional final at Nevada High School in hopes of advancing back to the state tournament for the third-straight season.

“It’s very exciting, especially since we’ve made it (to state) the last two years,” said BCLUW senior outside hitter Grace Farnsworth. “I think we have a good chance as long as we play as one and if our community shows up. We would love it because they help us play as one.”

The Comets didn’t exactly breeze through the Gaels (10-23), but head coach Megan Yantis had already warned her squad about that possibility in spite of their record.

“I don’t think their record showed how good of a team they were and I knew that coming in,” Yantis said. “I’ve seen who they’ve played and their scores, so I knew that we should not overlook them, and I’m super proud of the girls and how they stepped up to that challenge.”

The most daunting part of that challenge was St. Edmond’s 6-foot-2 freshman Eden Horn. The Gaels’ far-and-away statistical leader at the net, Horn helped keep her team in the contest from the opening serve.

For a moment in the third set, it seemed the Gaels were on their way to forcing a fourth.

Already leading 2-0, BCLUW’s passing fell off just far enough to slow down the attack, and St. Edmond took advantage. The Gaels had six service aces in the third set, using an 8-1 run to get out to a 15-9 lead.

Yantis even used a timeout during that stretch, and her words of encouragement helped the Comets slowly turn the tide.

“She believed in us all the way,” said Farnsworth. “She just knew that we needed a little breather to just readjust and have a little bit of urgency. She believes in every single person on the court and on the bench, which I feel like is great for us.”

After the Comets finally broke up St. Edmond’s scoring surge with a tip over the block by freshman middle hitter Kennedy Davis, BCLUW started firing back. Junior outside hitter Olivia Peters and senior outside hitter Grace Farnsworth combined to rack up 11 kills in the third set alone, leading the way on an 11-3 scoring surge to finish off the match.

St. Edmond led 19-14 before the rally pushed the Comets through to the regional finals.

“Sometimes our team is so even-keeled, which is good at times, but there also needs to be that sense that we’ve got to go,” Yantis said. “I told them we were fine, but we needed to find that sense of urgency.

“Even-keeled is good at times because you don’t want people to panic, but we finally found that urgency there in that last game. And we needed that. Super proud that the girls were able to come back and find that win.”

The Comets’ fire found its fuel from numerous sources throughout the contest, including junior middle hitter Kylie Pekarek. She recorded back-to-back blocks early in the second set to start BCLUW on 5-0 run that put them in front 12-7. St. Edmond fought back to tie the score three times through the remainder of the set, but the Gaels never got the lead back.

A Pekarek kill from the right side ended the second set for a 2-0 Comet advantage.

“I think just the team energy and like the past two years have also brought out a lot of this urge in me to want to go back (to state) again,” said Pekarek. “I’m excited to bring that energy to the court. I like to try to bring as much energy as I can.”

Peters compiled a team-leading 15 kills, seven of which came in the final set. Farnsworth finished with eight kills — four in the third set. Pekarek added six kills and no errors on 14 swings, good for a .429 attack efficiency.

“Kylie’s energy when she gets going is a great factor for us and just gets us all going,” said Yantis.

BCLUW sophomore setter Cambria Wayman piled up 21 assists to eclipse 500 for her career, while freshman Sally Ramirez added eight assists. Junior libero Brinna Benson had 14 digs and four assists, while Wayman led the defense with 16 digs.

The Comets served 66-for-70 as a team, totaling five aces. Farnsworth was 15-for-16 with two aces, while Davis was 8-for-9 with two aces. Ramirez served 19-for-19 and Wayman was 16-of-17.

Horn led St. Edmond with eight kills and two blocks. Chloe Palmer picked up six kills, while Faith Shirbroun and Ava Underberg had five kills apiece. The Gaels tallied seven service aces against the Comets.

“We know coming into the bracket that every team is going to want it as much as anybody else and we cannot underestimate them,” Farnsworth said. “I feel like St. Edmond was a great team to get us prepared for later on. They had a lot of fight in them from the first to the last point.”

BCLUW had its last two seasons ended by Ankeny Christian Academy at the state tournament. The Eagles beat the Comets in the 2013 state semifinals, and last year’s ACA victory came in the 1A championship match.

“I don’t know who we’re playing yet but both teams are going to be a tough battle,” Pekarek said. “I’m really excited to bring that energy to the court and play a good game again.”