Grayhounds dispatch FM from regionals

FORT MADISON - Kelly Knustrom didn’t want to say goodbye to her seniors.
The Fort Madison High School volleyball coach tried holding back the tears after Tuesday’s three-set loss to Burlington High School in a Class 4A Region 8 quarterfinal at FMHS.
But as hard as Knustrom tried, she couldn’t do it.
“Yeah, it was tough,” Knustrom said of the defeat.
The 25-21, 25-16, 25-13 loss to the Grayhounds (18-22) wasn’t like the two previous matchups this season. Fort Madison won a five-set match at Burlington on September 26, then followed that with a two-set win in the Southeast Conference tournament.
Burlington, which advances to play at Oskaloosa in Thursday’s semifinal, controlled this match from the beginning. The Bloodhounds challenged Burlington in the first set, but the Grayhounds had long runs in the second and third sets to control the pace of the match.
“I feel like they made some adjustments since the last time we played them, and it worked out,” Knustrom said. “I thought we were a little tight, maybe. Kudos to Burlington. They came into our gym with some fire. And I thought we were a little reserved in Games 1 and 2.”
It started out as an emotional night for the eight seniors, including Irelynd Sargent, who was in uniform after missing the entire season while she recovered from a knee injury.
“I was getting texts today from the kids, wanting her to run out with them at the start,” Knustrom said. “She 100 percent deserves it. A lot of kids would have just said, ‘I’m good.’ But she was here at every practice. There’s something about Irelynd. She brings a spark.”
Fort Madison finished the season 6-32, but the Bloodhounds were at their best in the five-set matches, going 4-0.
“These kids grew so much,” Knustrom said. “Our volleyball skills got better, but the type of people they are … they’re a great group of girls, so much fun to coach. I think future teams are going to look back on this team and know they started something really special with the culture. I can see us turning the page on a lot of this stuff.”
Dayonna Davis led the Bloodhounds with four kills. Aija Jenkins had three kills and 10 digs. Elle Ruble had 12 digs. Sydney McEntee had two blocks.
The Bloodhounds lose three of their top five players in kills — Taylor Johnson (178), Jenkins (118) and Lauryn Helmick (102) — but bring back a solid group of players, including sophomore hitters McEntee and Davis and setter Mara Smith.
“These kids grew so much,” Knustrom said. “Our volleyball skills got better, but the type of people they are … they’re a great group of girls, so much fun to coach. I think future teams are going to look back on this team and know they started something really special with the culture. I can see us turning the page on a lot of this stuff.”
Turning the page, though, wasn’t going to be easy.
“It’s going to be tough to top this senior group,” Knustrom said.