Aberdeen Central won by a razor thin margin in sets two and three to sweep Sioux Falls Lincoln to open up Homecoming week Tuesday night at Golden Eagles Arena.
The Eagles defeated Lincoln 25-16, 26-24, and 25-23 to grab the non-conference volleyball victory.
Central opened the first set by taking an early lead and did not look back. Lauryn Burckhard played a key role in the set hammering down seven kills.
“Lauryn’s really a rhythm kid and so when she’s in rhythm, things just tend to go well for her,” said Golden Eagles coach Jackie Bindenagel. “And Alivia (Miller) was putting up a good ball for our hitters. Just a lot of things went well tonight.”
Miller knew that Burckhard was in a zone from the start and was able to get her the ball at the net. Miller finished the night with 25 set assists.
“We had some good ups so that really helped with where I was at and how good the set was,” said Miller. “They called their routes good, and we just put it away.”
Going into the second set, Lincoln changed its game plan a bit and it showed. The Patriots jumped out to an early lead and maintained it until Central tied it at 20-20.
“They came out in sets two and three and swung really well, and then we kind of stopped swinging,” said Bindenagel. “So really all we did was just talk about staying really aggressive, and that started with having to slow down their attack at the net. We had to start getting some touches on the block so that we could run our offense.”
Central then fell behind 6-0 to start out the third set prompting a timeout from Bindenagel.
“Sometimes we dig this hole, but it just says a lot about them that they never give up,” Bindenagel said. “I was really proud of how they didn’t panic, and they just settled in and played.”
The Golden Eagles kept their composure and Miller helped to get the squad back on track.
“We need a leader to help bring the team back,” said Miller. “Help just bring the energy back.”
Central stayed within striking distance the entire third set until Miller stepped up to the service line trailing 16-10 and proceeded to give the Golden Eagles their first lead of the set at 17-16 with seven straight points, including two aces during that span.
“We just focus on controlling the controllables and we knew we needed to serve well,” said Bindenagel. “Some of those kids really served aggressive down the stretch in set three, and Lincoln could not get in system.”
The Golden Eagles relied on a team effort to help pull off the sweep against the Patriots.
“We just had a lot of kids just simply do their jobs and we talk about that a lot,” Bindenagel said. “Know what you need to do when you go into the match and I thought they did that tonight.”
Central had four match points at 24-20 in the final set. Lincoln fought back to within a point before Burckhard closed out the contest with her 16th kill of the night in front of a loud homecoming crowd.
“It was really exciting. It was fun,” said Miller. “If they (the student section) bring a lot of energy, then we get really hyped up and we get excited too.”
The Golden Eagles will hit the road Thursday to take on Sioux Falls Washington, currently ranked fourth.
Serving: Aberdeen Central 68-72 5 aces (Alivia Miller 16-18 4 aces, Kennedy Osborne 15-16 1 ace, Taylin Kleffman 17-17).
Hitting: Aberdeen Central 117-136 35 kills (Lauryn Burckhard 36-42 16 kills, Kamdyn Borge 30-33 10 kills, Kenadi Withers 30-35 8 kills).
Setting: Aberdeen Central 116-116 30 assists (Miller 95-95 25 assists, Kleffman 19-19 4 assists)
Digs: Aberdeen Central 71 (Miller 14, Kleffman 13, Osborne 12, Maddie Sandvig 12, Withers 10).
Blocks: Aberdeen Central 6 solo 2 assists (Amelia Rife 2 solo 1 assist, Burckhard 2 solo 1 assist, Borge 1 solo, Karlie Nieman 1 solo)
Records: Sioux Falls Lincoln 4-5; Aberdeen Central 5-2.
