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DOWAGIAC — Dowagiac’s volleyball team took a few minutes following Thursday’s Lakeland Conference loss at home to Berrien Springs to reflect on what kind of team they want to be going forward.

Amber Todd’s Lady Chieftains lost a tough 25-16, 20-25, 25-23, 23-25, 9-15 decision to the visiting Shamrocks on Senior Night and its annual Pink Game. 

The loss dropped Dowagiac to 1-1 in the Lakeland and 12-17-4 overall. Berrien Springs improves to 11-12-4 overall and 1-1 in conference matches. 

“We need to work on our consitency and energy on the court. At times we’re great and at other times we don’t trust our teammates and play together. Those two things are what really hinder us right now as a team. We had a big talk after the match about how some of us are playing and others are down. Our offense was a little inconsistent on where the sets were going. We typically set more consistently and we need to communicate better,” Dowagiac’s coach said afterwards.

The opening set saw five lead changes before Dowagiac grabbed and maintained the lead for good for the remainder of the game. Senior defensive specialist and setter Claire Hess came off the bench to serve six straight points, including two aces expanding Dowagiac’s advantage to 21-16. The Lady Chieftains ended that game with key kills from sophomore Brianna Campbell and senior Riley Todd.

The second set was tightly contested with neither side leading by more than a couple points. Berrien Springs managed to build a four-point cushion (17-13) late in that game. Dowagiac rallied to even it up at 19-19 with a pair of Hess aces and a Shamrocks’ error. But the visitors held on getting two kills each from Kathryn Bergan and Katie Wilson to win the game and even the match at 1-1.

The momentum stayed with Berrien Sorings as the Shamrocks stormed out to a 10-1 lead in the third set. Dowagiac eventually worked its way back and evened the game up at 17-17 on six straight serving points from senior Hanah McCuddy. The Shamrocks clung to 22-20 lead late in that game before the Chieftains pulled within 23-24. But Bergan ended the set with a thunderous kill, evening the match at 2-2 and forcing a fifth set.

Berrien Springs held the lead all the way through the deciding set, including scoring the first four points. Todd’s ace pulled Dowagiac within two points, 9-7. That’s as close as the Lady Chieftains would get though as Bergan served three consecutive points to put her squad up by four. Zion Ellis’ kill for the Shamrocks ended the match. 

Dowagiac’s coach singled out the play of her junior setter Hess, along with senior hitter Riley Todd.

“I thought Claire did a great job of setting and leading our team tonight when she went in there. We’ve been working a great deal on short serving and she did a nice job at that in this match. Riley also did an excellent job of executing balls in the first four sets for us and on serve-receive,” Dowagiac’s coach said.

Carpenter had 13 kills, four aces and one block. Tessa Deering added five kills, 12 digs and one block. Campbell tossed in five kills and five digs. Todd furnished the Chieftains with three aces and nine digs. Ava Nate added four kills and five digs. Hess had four aces, eight digs and 15 assists. McCuddy contributed 20 assists and nine digs. Grace Toy added seven digs. Shivers had 13 digs. 

Dowagiac returns to action next Thursday in a non-conference match at South Haven.