FOREST CITY — The morning was rough, but the Webster City volleyball team was able to rally in the afternoon on Saturday to break even at the Forest City Invite.

The Lynx finished 2-2 — 2-0 losses to Forest City (21-13, 21-16) and 11th-ranked (Class 3A) Roland-Story (21-14, 21-15) in their opening two matches, followed by 2-0 victories over Mason City Newman (21-13, 21-13) and Spencer (21-17, 29-27).

“We got off to a bit of a slow start. It was a tough Saturday morning,” WCHS head coach Jess Howard said. “But as the day went on, the girls kept improving. In the last two matches we were able to put it together to come out on top.”

Consistency at net wasn’t necessarily a strength. WCHS (8-9) had 62 kills on the day, but also 60 attack errors and a kill efficiency of just .008. Only two players — outside hitter Faith Anderson and libero Alayna Finucan — hit better than .100. Anderson had 13 kills on the day and Finucan had one.

“We did struggle a little bit with consistency, but the girls were swinging hard and that was good to see,” Howard said. “Our cohesiveness really improved in the last two matches. We played a little bit individually instead of as a team in the first two (matches) and it cost us points throughout.”

Anderson had five kills against both Forest City and Spencer. Finucan had 19 and 16 digs, respectively, against the same two opponents, and she had a team-high 42 — 29 more than her closest teammate — on the day.

“Alayna played really well in the back row,” Howard said. “She was a magnet for the ball and helped us out quite a bit. And Faith played really well at the net.”

Sierra Rattenborg lashed 15 kills in the tournament to lead the team. Lexi Nichols added 11, Reese Casey chipped in nine, Livia Kasch finished with seven and Joslin Gourley had six.

Gourley distributed 34 of the team’s assists. Jenna Miller had 20 and 11 digs. Kelly Stoakes collected 13 digs.

Finucan also led WCHS behind the service line with six aces, four of them coming in the sweep of Mason City Newman. Leah Kasch smacked four aces against Spencer and five on the day.

WCHS will return to North Central Conference play on Thursday with a road trip to Humboldt to take on the 14th-ranked (3A) and unbeaten Wildcats at 7:30 p.m.

Forest City Invite

Saturday at Forest City

Webster City Statistics

(Combined 4 matches)

Attacks — Sierra Rattenborg 50-67, 15 kills; Faith Anderson 29-38, 13 kills; Lexi Nichols 23-34, 11 kills; Reese Casey 25-34, 9 kills; Livia Kasch 18-24, 7 kills; Joslin Gourley 19-23, 6 kills; Alayna Finucan 9-9, 1 kill; Leah Kasch 4-7; Jenna Miller 1-1.

Blocks — Anderson 11⁄2, Casey 1, Li. Kasch 1, Gourley 1⁄2, Nichols 1⁄2, Rattenborg 1⁄2.

Digs — Finucan 42, Kelly Stoakes 13, Miller 11, Le. Kasch 8, Gourley 6, Rattenborg 5, Li. Kasch 3, Anderson 2, Nichols 1, Casey 1.

Assists — Gourley 34, Miller 20, Finucan 3.

Serving — Finucan 39-41, 6 aces; Le. Kasch 24-24, 5 aces; Miller 18-18, 3 aces; Gourley 27-29, 1 ace; Rattenborg 18-20, 1 ace; Stoakes 9-9; Li. Kasch 1-1.