WEBSTER CITY – With no real bomber on the outside or in the middle, the Webster City volleyball team has had to become creative in order gain an advantage.

Head coach Jess Howard loathes service errors, and yet she’s willing to take that chance – perhaps begrudgingly – with her club this season.

The tactic paid huge dividends last night inside the Lynx home gymnasium.

Aggressive behind the line, WCHS collected eight aces and numerous free balls off line-drive serves to help it open the North Central Conference slate with a three-game sweep of Fort Dodge St. Edmond, 25-17, 25-19, 25-14.

WCHS (1-2, 1-0 NCC) had five service miscues – and that’s five more than Howard usually stomachs – but the pressure was a little too much for the Gaels to handle.

“I’m not a big believer in the totally aggressive serve, but we are trying to serve aggressively and consistently,” Howard said. “It just gives us one more way of scoring points without having to do a lot of work offensively or defensively.”

Courtney Lampman went with the hard serve for two aces and a short serve that just crept over the net for her third ace. Taylor Schnathorst used a powerful jump serve to pick up two aces, and Gianna Gourley added two as well in 22 chances.

The Lynx spread the wealth around up front with nine girls slapping at least one kill. Andi Anderson led the assault with six, including five in the opening set to get her team off to a strong start. Schnathorst also laced six and led the team in assists with 17.

Hannah Williams added five kills, three of them coming in the opening set, while Kenzie Garvey and Olivia Myers both had four.

“We’ve got a real balanced attack at net,” Howard said. “We’ve got girls that have power, and they’ve worked on their placement, too.”

Gabbi Hoversten picked up two kills and a team-high three blocks.

Gourley, the team’s libero, piled up 17 digs, one more than Garvey. Carly Jacobson dove around for nine digs.

Lampman chipped in 12 assists when she directed the offense.

Fast starts in each of the three sets enabled WCHS to put St. Edmond (1-8, 0-1 NCC) on the defensive right away. The Gaels led for a grand total of two points on the night.

“It’s huge to be able to get that confidence right away,” Howard said. “It’s that first step where you can give yourself a little bit of a cushion.”

A 7-0 spurt with Lampman behind the service line pushed the Lynx to a 12-5 advantage in the first set, and the Gaels never got closer than five the remainder of the way.

Back-to-back kills from the outside by Williams gave WCHS a set point, and Anderson finished it off with her fifth kill from the right side of the floor.

WCHS posted the initial five points of the second set. St. Edmond didn’t go away and eventually jumped in front, 13-12, but the Lynx quickly regained the upper-hand.

A Myers smack gave the Lynx a 21-17 edge and the junior put an end to the set later with a solo block.

It was a wire-to-wire lead for the Lynx in the closing set, keyed by three kills from Schnathorst. They notched seven of the first eight points and built the lead to as many as 12 points.

Jordan Root came off the bench to pound a kill to give WCHS a match points, and, fittingly enough, Schnathorst sent the Gaels home with a loss on a service ace.

WCHS will head north for the Algona Invite on Saturday.