Northwestern put Aberdeen Roncalli into early holes in each set and the Cavaliers were never able to climb out Tuesday night at Roncalli Gym.

The Class B fourth-rated Wildcats led from start to finish on the way to a 25-17, 25-18, 25-22 non-conference volleyball sweep.

“We were playing the catch-up game all night,” said Roncalli coach Mandy Smid.

Northwestern bolted out to a 6-2 lead in the opening set and gradually extended the margin. The visitors got up 9-5 in the second set and never trailed after that to go up two sets. The Wildcats then started the third set with a 13-5 surge. While the Cavaliers battled back, they were never able to get over the hump.

A big key in the contest was the play of Northwestern seniors Ella Haven and Brooklinn Halverson.

Haven finished with 20 kills on the night, many on pin-point set assists from Halverson.

“Me and Ella Haven really have to show a lot of leadership with being the only two seniors on the court,” Halverson said.

Haven did not get cheated on her attempts, often attacking the net with full forcce.

“She’s an athletic kid. We’re still trying to figure some things out with where she is on the court,” said Northwestern coach Nora Groft. “I thought she did a good job of making some adjustments in the match and finding a way to get a swing.”

Of course, Halverson knows exactly where Haven wants the ball and was at the hub of the Northwestern attack.

“I really liked Brooklinn Halverson’s enthusiasm tonight,” Groft said. “I thought she really was kind of a spark for our team, getting the ball to the right kid. I thought her leadership on the court was fantastic.”

Halverson said she can feel a difference in her demeanor to start the season.

“It’s a really big mind game when you think I’m the big senior on the court,” Halverson said. “I really have to make sure that I’m focused and making sure that I’m being a good teammate.”

Northwestern finished the match with seven aces. While the Wildcats also had a few service errors along the way, their aggressive approach was by design.

“They had the green light tonight to just let it rip from the service line,” Groft said. “If we make errors, we make errors. It’s early in the season. We don’t want to play careful on day one.”

The Cavaliers were led by sisters Ella Hanson and Ava Hanson.

Ella finished with 10 kills, while Ava had a team-leading three aces.

“I thought our girls did a nice job of putting together some strings,” Smid said of her team’s ability to battle from behind. “Unfortunately, we had some of those lulls in between, but I saw lots of really great volleyball for a good percentage of the match, that unfortunately wasn’t quite enough to take one of those sets.”

The Cavaliers are right back at it on Thursday, heading to Redfield for a Northeast Conference match.

Smid was pleased with how her squad played in its initial match of the year, saying she saw “lots of really positive things to take out of a match this early in the year, but also able to see lots of things that we can work on and fine tune.”

Serving: Northwestern 70-83 7 aces (Ella Boekelheide 9-10 2 aces, Tara Blachford 10-12 2 aces); Aberdeen Roncalli 54-54 5 aces (Ava Hanson 11-12 3 aces, Faith Danielson 15-15 2 aces).

Hitting: Northwestern 90-103 34 kills (Ella Haven 34-42 20 kills, Ashley Haven 22-23 9 kills, Ana Ratigan 11-11 4 kills); Aberdeen Roncalli 74-90 21 kills (E. Hanson 23-26 10 kills, Jaidyn Feickert 11-14 4 kills).

Setting: Northwestern 88-89 33 assists (Brooklinn Halverson 72-73 31 assists); Aberdeen Roncalli 99-100 19 assists (Maddie Huber 52-53 12 assists, Danielson 28-28 7 assists).

Digs: Northwestern 49 (A. Haven 15, Payton Grandpre 14); Aberdeen Roncalli 57 (Camryn Bain 16, E. Hanson 13).

Blocks: Northwestern 1 solo 12 assists (E. Haven 1 solo 3 assists, A. Haven 2 assists); Aberdeen Roncalli 2 assists (A. Hanson 1, Jazmine Hart-Crissman 1).