The Le Mars Community volleyball squad was a perfect 3-0 as they opened up their season Tuesday night at the MOC-Floyd Valley tournament in Orange City.

"Tonight was the first time we've even competed very well at this opener and tonight we won all three," coach Susan Irwin said. "We've never started 3-0, so we are definitely getting our taste of winning."

(Advertisement)

The Lady Bulldogs started the night with a victory over 11th-ranked MOC-FV. Le Mars edged the Dutch in the first game, winning 22-20. But MOC-FV answered back in game two with a 21-17 win. The Lady 'Dogs got the advantage again in game three with a 15-13 victory for the 2-1 match win.

In the second match of the night, Le Mars defeated Spencer 2-0. The Lady Bulldogs won a close game one, 22-20, before taking out the Tigers 21-15 in the second game.

Le Mars won their final set of the tournament with a 2-1 victory over Cherokee. The Braves got a commanding 21-10 win in game one, but the Lady Bulldogs answered with a solid 21-13 win in game two, forcing the third game. Le Mars stayed strong in game three to secure a 15-9 win for the 2-1 match victory and a 3-0 record on the night.

"It was a fun opener," Irwin said. "The girls really dug in."

Leading Le Mars at the net were Kaylee Thompson and Emily TeBrink with 12 and 11 kills in the tournament, respectively.

Amy Lubben set up 22 assists and Molly Fischer added 17 to the effort.

Tara Lehner totaled seven blocks on the night while Thompson added six. Kelby Klein and Kirstie Ruhland each had five blocks.

Defensively, TeBrink totaled 25 digs and Cassie Kuiken had 24.

Behind the server's line, TeBrink was 14-23 with four aces and Kuiken was 15-24.

"I was really pleased with the digging and the defense," Irwin said. "One thing that hurt us was our serving - it was probably our biggest downfall. But our defense tonight was just phenomenal."

Irwin credits her whole squad for their solid effort in their season debut.

"It's hard to get that taste of winning if you don't win early on," she said.

"Three wins really helped them tonight. They are learning in practice who goes where and having four seniors on the floor really makes a difference for the team."

Now 3-0 on the season, the Lady Bulldogs will travel to Fort Dodge on Saturday to compete in the Fort Dodge St. Edmond's tournament. Le Mars is competing in this tournament for the second year, after winning the whole thing last season. "We were very successful last year with [this tournament]," Irwin said of the road trip to Fort Dodge.

Irwin added that she hopes her squad can be as successful this year.