Dowagiac’s volleyball team got off to a rough start and then relinquished leads in falling Wednesday to South Haven, 25-10, 25-19, 25-20.

After the first 21 points of the match, the Chieftains trailed, 15-6, with coach Sara Lawrence already having to call two time-outs.

“Our team looked scared,” Lawrence said. “I told them that it’s their last home game and to not hold anything back and get out of their fear.”

The stoppage in play didn’t slow down South Haven as the Rams went on to roll to a 25-10 win in the opening game. Over their final seven points in game one, the Rams got four service aces from Meghan Hojara and a game clinching kill from Samantha Price.

“I thought we did a really good job of rallying off of serves,” South Haven coach Katie Bates said. “We had some really nice serves and (Dowagiac) wasn’t able to come back with a serve receive pass.”

Dowagiac was much more competitive in game two and three.

The Chieftains jumped out to an 8-4 lead in game two behind three service aces from Jessica Herthoge. Dowagiac maintained a lead at 15-13 before South Haven rallied. A Chieftains’ service error gave the Rams the lead for good at 18-17.

Dowagiac looked ready to take the match into a fourth game after racing out to a 15-6 lead in game three. Brittany Williams’ kill gave the Chieftains that advantage. Dowagiac also got three service aces from Casey Weldy during the impressive stretch.

Another kill from Williams gave the Chieftains a 16-9 lead. But Dowagiac couldn’t maintain the momentum. South Haven stormed back and went on a 15-3 run to take a 24-19 lead. During that rally, the Rams totaled eight service aces — five from Emma Toneycliffe and three from Lauren Harry.

“Too many silly mistakes and I think we were getting tired,” Lawrence said about why her team wasn’t able to hold leads.

Despite winning in three games, Bates feels her team can play better.

“That’s always a good thing, finishing in three games,” Bates said. “But I think our team slowed down the speed of our game on our side of the net. We’re a lot faster than we played tonight. Some teams are really good about coming in and slowing you down a little bit. I think (Dowagiac) slowed us down and we let them do that. That was a little disappointing.”

South Haven was led by Toneycliffe, who had eight kills, three blocks and seven service aces.

It was the last home match for Dowagiac seniors Correshia Rodgers, Jessica Holmes, Carly Polomcak and Whitney Donaldson. Polomcak led the Chieftains offensively with six kills.

“She really stepped up tonight and I’m really proud of her,” Lawrence said. “She did a good job.”

South Haven d. Dowagiac, 3-0

Kills: Emma Toneycliffe (S) 8, Makiah Martin (S) 4, Lauren Harry (S) 3, Carly Polomcak (D) 6, Whitney Donaldson (D) 2

Blocks: Toneycliffe (S) 3, Harry (S) 2, Samantha Price (S) 2

Assists: Meghan Hojara (S) 20

Aces: Toneycliffe (S) 7, Hojara (S) 4, Harry (S) 3, Sarah Washegesic (S) 2, Kelly DuCharme (S) 2, Jessica Herthoge (D) 4, Casey Weldy (D) 3

Digs: DuCharme (S) 10, Washegesic (S) 3, Toneycliffe (S) 3, Polomcak (D) 4, Herthoge (D) 3, Hunter Goins (D) 3