Le Mars volleyball snapped a four-match postseason losing streak with a hard-fought five-set win over Sergeant Bluff-Luton on Tuesday night.
The Bulldogs showed right away that they were there to compete by taking the first set 25-16 and the second set 25-15. Le Mars head coach Jess Wolles says they were motivated to prove that they belong in big matches.
The Bulldog offense was firing bullets all night. Le Mars had five hitters record five or more kills while three attackers had double-digit kill figures. Led by Aubree Lesuink’s 45 assists, the Bulldog offense had a gameplan and executed it well.
Le Mars had plenty of success serving the volleyball with 16 aces as a team. Holly McNaughton had six of those while Lexi Hurd added another five. Coach Wolles says that is a part of their game they work on a lot.
Sergeant Bluff-Luton did not take the loss lying down getting a 25-20 win in the third set and 26-24 win in the fourth. It looked like they were going to pull away in the fifth with a 4-0 lead early. The Bulldogs called a timeout to remind the girls to relax. It worked because Le Mars scored five points in a row out of the timeout.
Le Mars now takes on sixth-ranked Lewis Central of Council Bluffs on Thursday in the regional semifinals. It will be a tough matchup, but Coach Wolles says the Bulldogs are going to take this confidence and momentum into that matchup.
The Bulldogs and Titans will start their contest at 7:00 PM on Thursday night. KLEM Radio will broadcast the match live.
