Fairfield holds Lady Hounds back

Fort Madison High School’s volleyball team fought to get a fourth set.
Fairfield fought back and kept the Bloodhounds from a fifth one.
The Trojans’ 25-14, 25-18, 26-28, 25-23 win on Thursday was a battle for the Southeast Conference lead, and the final two sets were filled with cascading momentum on both sides.
Fairfield (10-9 overall, 3-1 conference) secured the win by taking control of the fourth set by scoring 11 consecutive points after Fort Madison (3-18, 2-2) led 15-9.
The fact that the Bloodhounds were still playing at that point impressed their coach.
“I told them I wish we could have started with Game 3,” Fort Madison coach Kelly Knustrom said. “Games 1 and 2 were not what we expected. But I am super proud of them for not being done, for coming back and fighting the way they did. It would have been real easy to say, ‘We’re done.’ But I admire them for fighting back.”
The Bloodhounds were chasing points throughout the night until they started chipping away at Fairfield in the third set. They were down 9-2 early, and were behind 12-7 before scoring nine of the next 10 points to rattle the Trojans.
“We talked about in Game 2 about certain goals, spots to hit on the court,” Knustrom said. “I think in Game 3 it clicked a little more.
“We’ve had a hard time all season coming back. You hope that it clicks, you hope that it clicks at the right time. And it did in that third game.”
Fairfield fought off set point at 24-23. Fort Madison fought off two match points at 25-24 and 26-25, then the Bloodhounds scored three consecutive points. Taylor Johnson had a kill to tie the match at 26. Dayonna Davis’ tip found the floor for a 27-26 lead, then Ajia Jenkins’ tip did the same for the win.
Fort Madison kept the pressure on Fairfield into the fourth set. The Bloodhounds had their biggest lead of the night at 15-9, then the Trojans went on their crucial run. Knustrom called two timeouts during that stretch, but Fairfield just kept going.
The Bloodhounds had one more run in them. They were down 23-18 before scoring four consecutive points and forcing the Trojans to call a timeout. Lilly Bergren’s kill put Fairfield at match point, but Lauryn Helmick’s kill kept Fort Madison alive.
Fairfield, though, finished the match with a kill from Claire Thompson.
Davis led Fort Madison with 12 kills. Johnson had eight kills and a block. Amy Yasenchok was 15-of-15 serving with four aces. Mara Smith had 29 assists and 11 digs. Elle Ruble added 15 digs. Helmick was 10-of-11 serving with two aces, and added 10 digs.
“I was super proud of the way that we played the last two games, how we settled in and realized we could do some things and be successful,” Knustrom said. “We’ve got some time in the next few days to get some practice in. There’s a lot of volleyball to be played, and we can still do some good things.”