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Dodgers slip past ’Cats in five

By Ross Thede 6 min read

A quick comparison of common opponents would have told you that the Marshalltown volleyball team should have had no problem putting away Fort Dodge in Thursday's Iowa Alliance Conference clash.

But volleyball isn't played on paper.

The Dodgers came out as the more determined team and played as such, taking down the Bobcats in a five-set showdown inside the Roundhouse, 25-21, 25-23, 24-26, 18-25, 15-10.

Fort Dodge (2-11, 2-3) entered as a drastic underdog due to recent results; the Dodgers lost 3-0 to Mason City, while MHS overpowered the Riverhawks 3-1 in their last outing.

But that nine-day layoff appeared to linger for the Bobcats (4-9, 4-2), who started flat and found out the hard way how daunting it can be to try to come back from a 2-0 deficit.

It was the first five-set contest for either team, but the Dodgers had more steam at the end.

"Kudos to Fort Dodge, I think they came in and wanted it more than we did," said MHS head coach Jen O'Neal. "They are a good team. They have some good components but they've had a rough start to their season.

"I said to my team that I do believe we're the better team, but (Fort Dodge) played better tonight. I'm disappointed, and a lot of what we have to work on is some skill stuff, but there's some mindset stuff as well."

Marshalltown finished the night with 20 service errors, though only one in the deciding fifth set, as self-inflicted wounds wore down the Bobcats' chances. MHS even made seven service errors in the third set they scratched out to prolong their last home-court match until Oct. 6.

The Bobcats had 11 more kills than the Dodgers, 48-37, but couldn't overcome their own miscues on this night.

"I knew the way that we started that it was not gonna go like it should on paper," O'Neal said. "It should look like a shoe-in, but I don't count anybody out ever. We're very capable of letting other people come and beat us when they shouldn't, but we're also capable of beating people when we shouldn't, too.

"I think it was just definitely one of those nights for us, yeah."

The opening set was a back-and-forth battle throughout. Tied at 21-all, the Dodgers scored the final four points to pick up the momentum. It was Fort Dodge's first set win since sweeping Des Moines Hoover on Sept. 10.

The second set was virtually the same. The score was knotted at 18-all before Marshalltown scored the next two points, only to fall victim to a five-point swing for the Dodgers. The serving of setter Ellie Doster was an issue for MHS all night, and the Bobcats were on the heals when she was at the service line.

Fort Dodge recorded kills for four of those five consecutive points, taking a 23-20 lead, but the Bobcats battled back. Kendall Klinge's kill from the right side thwarted a Dodger victory to get MHS within 24-22, but a rare Brogan Miller kill closed the door.

Intent on turning the tables, Marshalltown made off on a 13-3 start to Game 3, leaning on Brooklyn Smith early and late. Smith had the Bobcats' first and last three kills for six of her team-leading 16 kills on the night, sparking Marshalltown back into the match.

Even with the lopsided advantage, MHS had trouble collecting the set. Three-straight kills for Morgan Hilderbrand helped the Bobcats to a 17-9 lead, but a glut of attack and service errors allowed Fort Dodge to hang around and eventually climb back into the game. Doster served up a 7-0 run for the Dodgers, who eventually took the lead at 20-19.

Smith appeared to finish off the set at 25-22, but a net violation prolonged the contest. The Dodgers got back to even, 24-24, but a Smith kill preceded an errant Fort Dodge attack and MHS tallied the 26-24 victory.

The celebration was shortlived, as a string of three-straight service aces for Fort Dodge's Adyson Friesth gave her team an 8-3 lead to start Game 4. A four-point surge served up by Hilderbrand got the Bobcats back in front, 16-13, and MHS pulled away for a 25-18 win. Hilderbrand had kills for Marshalltown's final four points to get to the deciding fifth set, and the Bobcats grabbed a 10-8 lead.

Another Miller kill got the serve back for Doster, and the Dodger senior served up the last six points to seal the match.

"Even the result didn't go the way that we wanted it to in that fifth set, I do feel like the last three sets we did play more together than the first two," said O'Neal. "The energy level was definitely higher on (Fort Dodge's) side the entire match. We finally got a little bit of that in the last three sets, so that's a little bit of silver lining too."

Smith led MHS in the match with 16 kills and three blocks, while Hilderbrand finished with 14 kills, two service aces and one block. Avery Polley played in the final three sets and scored six kills, while Kendall Klinge tallied five kills, two blocks and one ace. Bella Avise added three kills, two aces and one block, and setter Lauren O'Neal had three kills to go with one block.

Friesth led Fort Dodge with 14 kills and five aces, while Holly Schaffer got nine kills. Miller finished with five kills and Grace Nichols recorded four kills and two blocks.

Marshalltown is back in action Saturday at the Tiger Volleyball Tournament hosted by Cedar Falls, where the Bobcats will face a cast of ranked opponents.

"We're capable of high-level ball, we really are when all the cogs are moving in the same direction," coach O'Neal said. "We're gonna have to really dig a little deeper this weekend, and it might be a good time to try some different things too. We're still obviously fine-tuning what's going to work for us."

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