To cap the regular season, the No. 8 (2A) Lake Mills volleyball team won a seven-team tournament that featured three other ranked teams.

The Bulldogs swept Clear Lake, No. 10 (4A) Carroll, No. 11 (3A) Forest City, Sheldon and Spencer and edged No. 12 (3A) Algona 2-1.

Lake Mills (38-1 overall) finished the regular season with an 85-6 game record. The Bulldogs’ only loss this season was 2-1 against Spirit Lake on Sept. 19 at the Forest City tournament.

For Lake Mills coach Jim Boehmer, the season was reminiscent of 2010, a year the team finished 45-2.

“In 2010, the same things happened, and we found ourselves in the state finals that year,” he said. “Our girls believe in our team. (Class) 2A is strong, but we like to think we can compete.”

Against Carroll — the first of three ranked tournament opponents — the Bulldogs won 21-15 and 21-12. In Game 1, Lake Mills missed three serves but found a way to win.

“Usually in a set to 21 that is a very bad indicator, but we adjusted well to what Carroll ran offensively,” Boehmer said.

In the match against Forest City, Lake Mills built a 12-1 lead en route to a 21-9 Game 1 win and completed the sweep with a 21-15 victory in Game 2.

“Any time you play Forest City, you know it’s going to be a big match,” Boehmer said. “Kelsea (Heintzman) spread the ball around, and we have a number of girls who can put great swings on the ball.”

Heintzman had 15 assists against Forest City and had 765 on the season, which is seventh in Class 2A.

Against Algona — a team that also entered the championship match with a 5-0 tournament record — the Bulldogs lost 21-16 in Game 1.

“They came out with more energy and more passion than we did, and they were much faster than us,” Boehmer said.

However, Lake Mills rallied with the equalizer 21-14 in Game 2 and a 15-8 Game 3 win by scoring the last seven points of the game to win the match and the tournament.

“Any time you can go on a seven-point run (against) a rated team, it tells you what you are capable of when everyone commits to the game plan,” Boehmer said.

Next, the Bulldogs will host either St. Ansgar (13-9 overall) or Newman Catholic (2-11 overall) in the Class 2A Region 6 quarterfinals at 7 p.m. Oct. 27.