Aberdeen Central’s Madi Struble, center and Grace Kuch, right, defend the net as Mitchell’s Sawyer Stoebner, center, reaches to tip the ball during Tuesday night’s match at the Golden Eagles Arena. Looking on are Central’s Sydney Evans, far left and Mitchell’s Sarah Sebert. Photo by John Davis taken 10/19/2021
Involved in a log jam for playoff seed points, Aberdeen Central grabbed a big late-season win Tuesday night.
The Golden Eagles turned back Mitchell 19-25, 25-8, 25-19, 25-27, 15-11 in an Eastern South Dakota Conference volleyball match at Golden Eagles Arena.
The win was a pivotal one for Central, which is battling for a home-court playoff match. The Eagles are currently holding down the final spot for a home-court advantage.
Central cracked out 10 aces against the Kernels, led by Sydney Evans with four and Anna Malchow with three. That allowed the hosts to get back into the match after dropping the opening set.
“We knew we had to get our serve going to keep them out of system,” said Central coach Jackie Bindenagel. “We finally got that rolling after set one and then focused on playing solid defense and slowing down (6-foot-4 senior Kaspen) Alm at the net.”
Mitchell slipped from ninth to 11th in seed points following the setback.
Grace Kuch finished 20 kills and Karly Wellman 10 for Central. Evans led the Eagles with 28 digs and Meghan Mork followed with 19.
“Our kids battled hard tonight,” Bindenagel said.
Central, 11-11 on the season, will host Watertown on Tuesday at Golden Eagles Arena.
Serving: Aberdeen Central 10 aces (Sydney Evans 4, Anna Malchow 3, Meghan Mork 1, Abby Berry 1, Kiana Mounga 1).
Hitting: Aberdeen Central 51 kills (Grace Kuch 20, Karly Wellman 10, Mounga 9, Leah Gough 6).
Setting: Aberdeen Central 46 assists (Berry 40, Evans 5).