They left their mark on Lake Mills volleyball and now four team members are moving on to make their mark on college volleyball.

Jordynn Brackey, Ali Dugger, Sara Chodur and Cassie Christianson will all continue their volleyball careers this fall in college after helping lead the Bulldogs to a historic season. Brackey will attend Kirkwood Community College while Chodur will play at Iowa Central. Dugger and Christianson will play at North Iowa Community College.

Together they set a school record in wins with 38 last season as seniors and significantly raised the bar for any class to follow. But the season ended in heartbreak for the group as Lake Mills fell to Aplington-Parkersburg in the regional championship game and missed going to state. The bitter loss was abrupt and the desire to continue playing still ran strong among the group.

“I think a lot of it was we just felt like we weren’t done playing yet,” Christianson said.

Christianson was a two-year starter for the program, Dugger and Brackey played three varsity seasons and Chodur one. Brackey was an All-District player who recorded 461 kills her senior season. Dugger and Brackey earned all-conference selections in each of their three varsity seasons while Christianson was all-conference for two season as the team’s setter.

“When they came in as freshmen we knew they were going to be a part of a lot of wins,” said Lake Mills head coach Jim Boehmer.

As for the transition to college volleyball none believed it will be difficult because they were well prepared by Boehmer since an early age.

“I look back and I’m glad he was my coach,” Christianson said. “He taught me a lot. I don’t think without him I would be able to play in college.”

Boehmer asked a lot from his players and worked individually with them to elevate their game. As a psychology teacher he’s employed some unique motivational strategies in the past and they have paid off.

“He just tried to be really motivational,” Dugger said. “He’d give us reasons to want to beat someone.”

The group was also responsible for half of the 62-match conference winning streak the Bulldogs had from the end of the 2003 season through last year.

That streak and the culture of Lake Mills volleyball brought on a fair amount of pressure, but for the foursome it didn’t matter because they were simply playing volleyball and enjoying it.

The tradition of Lake Mills volleyball can be intimidating. The program has averaged more than 25 wins a season for the past 17 years and hasn’t lost a regular season conference game in five years. The program carries a reputation that extends far outside northern Iowa even.

Last year’s group starting playing varsity after star athlete Megan Pederson graduated in 2006 and outsiders doubted whether the Bulldogs would be able to carry on without her. They got along just fine without Pederson, tying the school record for wins the next season and setting the record the next.

“It wasn’t a game they were out for,” Boehmer said. “They truly dedicated themselves to the sport and the program.”

Sammy Nelson is another Lake Mills athlete moving on to play at the college level. She had offers to play volleyball but decided to play softball at NIACC next season. A sixth member of the volleyball team last season, Mariah Moore, also turned down offers to play collegiate volleyball.

Boehmer noted that having so many female athletes participate in athletics at the college level is a special accomplishment given that Lake Mills started girls’ athletics in 1972.

Getting used to watching the girls play wearing different uniforms might take some getting used to for Boehmer but the saying around Lake Mills is “Once a Bulldog, always a Bulldog.”