(Sentinel photo by Brian Schekirke) Le Mars' Molly Fischer digs up a hit against the Midgets Tuesday night. [Click to enlarge]

The ninth-ranked Le Mars volleyball squad marked another notch in the win column Tuesday night as they hosted Estherville-Lincoln Central in a Lakes Conference match.

The Lady Bulldogs grabbed a 25-22 win right away in game one.

But Le Mars had to fight back after falling behind in each of the next two games. But the Lady Bulldogs got the job done, edging out the Midgets 27-25 as game two went into extra points.

The Lady Bulldogs completed the three-game sweep in game three with a 25-22 win.

"It wasn't an easy win, but we won," Le Mars coach Susan Irwin. "The last two games we were down and the girls did a nice job of having a comeback. We just had to refocus again."

"I have to give Estherville credit," Irwin continued. "That second and third game they really came at the hitting hard, which made a big difference in the pace of the game."

Irwin mentioned that her squad made a few adjustments on the offense and it took the girls a little time to adjust during the first game of the night.

"We started out with a little different offense and that made a difference with the girls with their transitioning," Irwin said. "But they did a nice job adjusting."

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Le Mars also swayed from their normal 4-2 offense to a 5-1 on the serve receive. "It ended up being run well tonight," Irwin said of the change. "The girls are not used to it yet but they sure did a nice job adjusting once we talked about it and got it going."

Another change the girls were battling during the match was replacing a few players who were out due to illness. But Irwin said, once again, that her squad did a great job making the adjustments necessary.

"Kirstie Ruhland played all the way around tonight and she did a fantastic job adjusting to the played," Irwin said of the sophomore hitter. "She stepped up to the plate and did a nice job tonight. She played some smart volleyball tonight and we're proud of her performance."

A final adjustment the Lady Bulldogs made in tonight's match was a new aspect of the serving game. "We have been really working on place serving," Irwin said. "Tonight we were trying to hit the spots but they were not quite falling where we wanted them to [at first]. Eventually we came back and controlled better."

Serving leaders for Le Mars were Molly Fischer, Emily TeBrink and Cassie Kuiken. Fischer was 7-9 as she served a team-high three aces. TeBrink (18-21) and Kuiken (9-11) each added two ace serves.

Leading the offense at the net was Amy Lubben with eight kills. Kaylee Thompson smacked down six kills in the match while Ruhland rained down five kills for the Lady Bulldogs.

Lubben dished out 12 assists while Fischer added 10 assists to set up the offense.

On defense, TeBrink dug up 10 balls to pace the squad while Kuiken added nine digs.

At the net, TeBrink added four blocks while Thompson also blocked five hits.

Up next, Le Mars (13-2, 2-1) travels to Orange City on Saturday to compete in the Unity Christian tournament.

"It's usually a good tournament and a fun tournament," Irwin said. "It's usually pretty competitive up there."

Irwin added that many of the changes the squad has been making should help the Lady Bulldogs remain competitive as the season continues. "We're trying to get ourselves ready for both the weekend tournament at Unity and the end of the season and into the post-season. We're trying new things to see what works best for the club."

Le Mars will face off with Unity Christian to start the day, before taking on Sioux Falls Christian and George-Little Rock in the rest of pool play. Sioux Center, Gehlen Catholic, Southwest Christian (Minnesota) and Sergeant Bluff-Luton are in the other pool at Saturday's tournament.