This time around it was the Lake Mills volleyball team doing the celebrating on its home court after a 3-1 win over Central Springs in the quarterfinals of the Class 2A Region 5 playoffs.

Well, there wasn’t a whole lot of celebrating because the Bulldogs still have not reached their ultimate goal, but Lake Mills is advancing to the regional semifinal to face North Fayette in Charles City, Iowa Friday after a 25-20, 25-13, 21-25, 25-20 win against the Panthers.

The No. 6-ranked Bulldogs (37-3) were dealt a unfriendly start to the regional playoffs as they had to face Osage in the first round, a team that had defeated them in their previous meeting and then faced a Central Springs team that was near or in the rankings all season long.

“It’s feels like we’ve been on a emotional roller coaster,” Lake Mills head coach Jim Boehmer said. “We had to play Osage, two times, they all went five. These guys were our nemesis last year. We had five losses last year, they were two of them. So we just knew when we saw the pairing it was going to have to be like this.”

As difficult as the first two rounds were for the Bulldogs, they made quick work of the Panthers (22-8) Tuesday night in Lake Mills.

The Bulldogs were the aggressors in the first two games and came out with a 25-20 win in game one and a 25-13 win in game two.

“I told the girls we played game one and game two as well as we could have played,” Boehmer said. “We were on fire, our offense was going well, we were passing well and that really allowed us to be in system.”

Lake Mills led by as much as nine points multiple times during the game and as late as 23-14 behind the play of senior Sammy Nelson. Nelson led the team with 12 kills and 14 digs for the match. Central Springs tried to make it close as it went on a late 5-1 run to push the game to 24-20.

That’s when sophomore hitter Amanda Lampman officially announced her arrival with a game-ending kill.

It was the first varsity start for Lampman who filled in for an injured Darcy Nelson. Lampman played well, collecting nine kills and six blocks.

“Coming into the game was awesome,” Lampman said. “My team had so much confidence in me that gave me a boost. It took my nerves away. I was just pumped to be on the floor to play.”

The Bulldogs had a letdown in game three as the Panthers pushed their lead to as much as six after jumping out to a 3-0 start.

Lake Mills game back in game four with a strong effort. The game was tied 3-3 when the Bulldogs went on a 6-1 run, led by senior middle hitter Jordynn Brackey who registered two ace serves. Central Springs rallied to get to within three at 23-20 but that was as close as it would get.

The Bulldogs had success from the service line, coming up with 16 serving aces and just three errors. Cassie Christianson paced the Lake Mills offense with her 32 assists. Her passing put teammates in position for kills and her direction of the attack was difficult for the Panthers to contend with early on.

“When we pass the ball like we did tonight we’re tough,” Boehmer said.

The win avenged last season’s second round loss to Central Springs that came in Lake Mills.

“This game meant a lot and I feel like there’s still more that we could have given,” said Brackey, who finished with 10 kills, six blocks and 10 digs. “Maybe because it didn’t last two hours like the Osage game. I don’t quite feel like it’s over yet.”

It isn’t for the Bulldogs as they will face a North Fayette (19-10) team that defeated Turkey Valley 25-6, 24-26, 25-17, 25-22 Tuesday night in West Union. The Hawks started the season slow with five consecutive losses, but have been tough to beat from there on out.