(Photo courtesy of Jeff Hasselmann - Spencer Daily Reporter) Le Mars libero Cassie Kuiken digs up a hit against Spencer Thursday night. The senior totaled a team-high nine digs in the Lady Bulldogs' 3-1 loss. [Click to enlarge]

The Class 3A No. 9 Le Mars Lady Bulldogs lost their first Lakes Conference match Thursday night on the road in Spencer.

The Lady Bulldogs got off to a rocky start in game one as the Tigers dominated their way to a 25-3 win.

But Le Mars bounced back in a huge way to win game two, 25-16.

"The girls came around and stayed together and did a nice job with controlling the net in that game," Le Mars coach Susan Irwin said of game two.

But in game three, the roles were reversed as Spencer rallied to a 25-16 win to move ahead 2-1 in the match.

"That next game we had to fight back," Irwin said.

"We had a lot of net plays where it just didn't seem like things were going our way."

Game four became the decisive factor as the Tigers won 25-21 to win the match 3-1.

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"Our defense hurt us tonight," Irwin said of the loss.

"We didn't have the blocks and we couldn't get our timing with that. We couldn't keep the floor covered."

Irwin credited the Tigers' offense for the win.

"They did a nice job finding our holes and hitting them where we obviously were not."

Kaylee Thompson was the Lady Bulldogs' leader at the net Thursday. The senior totaled eight kills in the match.

Amy Lubben added six kills as a part of her all-around performance in the match. The junior setter/outside hitter also added seven digs and 10 assists while nailing 12-13 serves including three aces.

Tara Lehner and Emily TeBrink each added three kills to the Lady Bulldogs' effort while Lubben's co-setter Molly Fischer dished up seven assists.

On defense, the Lady Bulldogs struggled at the net with blocking.

In the back row, senior libero Cassie Kuiken paced the squad with nine digs while TeBrink added eight.

From the service line, Kuiken matched Lubben's three aces as she sunk 19-21 serves.

TeBrink added two aces in her 14-15 effort while sophomore Leah Clement came off the bench to serve a perfect 12-12 in the match.

With the loss, Le Mars falls to 12-2 on the season with a 1-1 Lakes Conference record.

The Lady Bulldogs are off until Tuesday, when they will host Estherville-Lincoln Central for another league match.

"It will be nice to have the rest and regroup," Irwin said of Le Mars' free weekend.

Next weekend the Lady Bulldogs, who remained ranked at No. 9 in this week's poll by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union, will be in action at the Unity Christian tournament in Orange City.