WEST DES MOINES — The volleyball was fast-paced and action-packed on Tuesday at Dowling Catholic between the Maroons and the Ottumwa Bulldogs.

It was also close, as of course the scores would indicate.

The Ottumwa volleyball squad’s start to the season at Dowling was not a successful one. But there were plenty of positives created by head coach Bonnie Cobler’s squad in each team’s non-conference CIML battle.

Ottumwa dropped the match in five games and lost all three of its games by just two points each.

After trailing two games to none, Ottumwa bounced back to take games three and four, 25-20 and 25-18.

Ottumwa tied the contest at 13-13 in the final game after trailing by as many as seven points. But the Maroons found a way to win and closed out the match 15-13.

“We struggled right off the bat with our serving. That hurt us,” said Cobler, who saw Dowling win the first two games by scores of 25-23 and 29-27.

Ottumwa’s two key senior leaders — Kayla Wagner and Mariah Hopkins — had quite the night for Cobler.

Wagner sent 16 kills to floor while Hopkins amassed 10 kills. Hopkins also notched six aces and was 23-25 serving. She led the team in digs with 27. Wagner was 12-13 serving and netted a team-leading eight blocks.

“Mariah and Kayla both stepped it up like none other. They were true leaders and went after the ball and wouldn’t let it die,” said Cobler.

Ottumwa (0-1) competes at the Marshalltown Invite on Saturday.

Dowling Catholic 25-29-20-18-15, Ottumwa 23-27-25-25-13

Ottumwa Statistics

Serving — Mariah Hopkins 23-25, Sarah Ryan 13-14, Kayla Wagner 12-13, Courtney Klyn 12-13, Marissa Barton 12-12. Aces — Hopkins 6, Klyn 4, Barton.

Kills — Wagner 16, Hopkins 10, Peyton Crosser 8, Ryan 5.