Aberdeen Central, with the aid of some quick offense, completed its first sweep of the volleyball season Saturday afternoon at Golden Eagles Arena.
The hosts took advantage of aggressive serving and hitting on the way to a 25-14, 25-18, 25-11 non-conference volleyball victory over Sturgis.
Central forced the Scoopers into numerous free balls which allowed the Golden Eagles to employ their quick offense.
“We’ve been working on it a lot in practice,” said Central setter Camryn Albrecht. “Our coaches want us to run quicks on those free balls a lot and it worked out well when we got a good pass.”
Of course, timing in a crucial element to the success of those attempts.
“The timing is really importrant to connect with your hitters,” Albrecht said. “We practice them a lot, so it’s I think it’s cool to see how they’ve come along.”
Central’s aggressiveness from behind the service line also kept the Scoopers on their heels and caused numerous overpasses where Golden Eagle senior Amelia Rife was ready and waiting.
“Those are my favorite,” Rife said of opportunities right on top of the net. “We practice those in practice and those are fun.”
Central set the tone early bolting out to a 13-2 lead in the opening set and was never in trouble in any of the sets.
“They did a good job in that first set, jumping out right away, and then as the match went on we tried to get some other kids in,” said Central coach Jackie Bindenagel. “We’re still trying to figure out this lineup, so I thought everybody that went on the court seemed ready to play and that’s a big thing right now.”
The Scoopers’ most effective weapon on the afternoon were tips, often times just out of the reach of Central’s front line.
Rife talked about the challenge of dealing with those tips.
“Because it’s up and over, you can’t get as many touches,” Rife said, “so then you try and play it, and then sometimes that freezes the back row.”
While that means others have to react quickly, it also means that the defense doesn’t have to deal with aggressive swings from across the net.
“You just have to stay on your toes, try to read the hitter well,” Albrecht said. “We just like to see it. We practice and practice a lot with that kind of stuff.”
While the Scoopers did get some points on those tips, Bindenagel was pleased with her team’s defense throughout the match.
“We had more block assists than usual,” Bindenagel said, “so our bigs did a good job running the routes and getting a block up.”
Lauryn Burckhard topped Central with a dozen kills.
Albrecht finished with three ace serves and kept the visitors off stride on a variety of serves.
“She’s been serving really well. (Friday) she had 19 serving points. Today she had 15,” Bindenagel said.
The sophomore caught Sturgis off guard on a couple of serves that never even reached the 10-foot line.
“My coach was telling me to put them there and I trusted her that I could get them there,” Albrecht said. “I tried to and it ended up working out.”
Albrecht also did some damage dumping multiple balls across the net instead of setting her teammates.
“When they’re sending a free ball over I can kind of see out of my peripheral vision,” Albrecht said, “just see the open court.”
With aggressive serving, a quick offense, and solid blocking at the net, it produced a recipe for Central’s first sweep in six matches so far this season.
“I think we were all in the mindset of three and done, we need to finish in three, and that’s what we did,” Rife said. “We came out and competed.”
The Golden Eagles, 5-1 on the season, have a road match at Sioux Falls Lincoln on Tuesday, before hosting Sioux Falls Washington on Thursday.
“A big week ahead,” Bindenagel said. “That will be a good test for us.”
Serving: Aberdeen Central 63-73 5 aces (Camryn Albrecht 17-21 3 aces, Mya Arampatzis 9-10 1 ace, Alivia Miler 5-6 1 ace).
Hitting: Aberdeen Central 97-110 35 kills (Lauryn Burckhard 35-39 12 kills, Kenadi Withers 17-17 5 kills, Jaidyn Forsyth 9-10 5 kills, Arampatzis 12-16 5 kills).
Setting: Aberdeen Central 94-94 29 assists (Miller 46-46 15 assists, Albrecht 25-25 10 assists).
Digs: Aberdeen Central 65 (Taylin Kleffman 19, Kalli Huff 12, Withers 10).
Blocks: Aberdeen Central 14 assists (Karlie Nieman 4, Amelia Rife 3, Burckhard 3).
Records: Sturgis 3-8; Aberdeen Central 5-1.
