Written by Teague Alesch
The 2026 volleyball season has come to an end after the Bulldogs made a good late season push.
On October 15th, the Dogs traveled to Charles City to take on the Comets. They swept the match and won three sets to none. Makenna Elsbecker led the team with eighteen assists. Kate Limbaugh had twenty-one kills. And senior Hayden McLaughlin posted four blocks. It was a great night for the Bulldogs as they improved to a 13-15 overall record.
On October 17th, the Bulldogs hosted the Algona October Invite. In their first match of the day, the Dogs lost two sets to one to the Emmetsburg E-Hawks. Following the loss, they bounced back, and in three sets took down ranked 1A Lake Mills. To cap off pool play, the Dogs beat Decorah in two sets to zero. The Bulldogs moved on to bracket play, where they fell to the 35-0 Rive
rside Bulldogs in two sets. This was the end of regular season play for the Dogs.
The Bulldogs hosted the Forest City Indians in the first round of playoffs on October 20th. The Dogs came to play, sweeping the Indians in three sets. Taylor VanOtterloo led the team with eleven assists. And sophomore Kate Limbaugh led the team in kills and digs.
The Bulldogs advanced to the second round of playoffs where they traveled to MOC-Floyd-Valley on Thursday, October 22nd. The Dogs had their work cut out for them as MOC was ranked #2 in class 3A and were 30-7. AHS battled hard, but the Dutch proved to be too much. The Bulldogs lost in three, 25-20, 25-19, and 25-13. Elsbecker led in assists with seven. Gabby Venteicher had 19 digs and Limbaugh had four blocks.
The Bulldogs ended the season with an overall record of 16-18 and were 8-3 in the Conference, tied for 3rd. The team graduates a strong roster of girls: Reagan Haynes, Hayden McLaughlin, Taylor VanOtterloo, BellaJo Dunning, Gabby Venteicher, Maci Mallory, Alissa Engel, and Ellie Brinkley.