Aberdeen Central found its stride early, lost a step mid-match, but found it again late in time to complete a 3-1 Eastern South Dakota volleyball win (25-12, 25-21, 23-25, 25-12) over Yankton Saturday afternoon at Golden Eagles Arena.

Central was dominant in the opening stanza, bolting out to an 8-0 lead behind a combination of solid serving, a healthy attack and a hearty dose of Gazelle errors. 

Golden Eagle senior Taylin Kleffman was a key part of that early run, serving seven of those eight points and recording one of her three aces.

But that early stride hit a bump in the second and third sets.

“I thought we started the match kind of firing away at them, then we tried to roll-shot it and tip it and play nice and easy,” said Central coach Jackie Bindenagel. “(Yankton is) going to win that game. But when we’re swinging, I think they’re going to have a hard time defending us. I’m glad we got back to that as the match went on.”

Yankton did, indeed, make the Golden Eagles pay in the third set, rallying late to claim a set victory and avoid a sweep.

“I think when we make a mistake, we get really down,” Kleffman noted. “We just need to keep each other up and have high energy all the time and continue to push points and win the matches.”

Despite the setback, the Golden Eagles regrouped and reset following that third stanza.

“It was about staying aggressive and playing our game and just being efficient with the ball,” Bindenagel said of her message to the team. “We kind of got away from that in the third set. Our serve got rolling again (in the fourth), and once your serve gets rolling and we got some block touches, things just take care of themselves a little bit easier.”

Central once again found a way to jump out to an early lead, this time riding a solid serving effort from Lauryn Burckhard to an 11-3 lead. Burckhard finished the night with 15 kills and a pair of aces.

“We have some really good individuals on the team that really bring positive energy and get us going whenever we score a point,” Kleffman said. Kleffman totaled 18 digs and three aces on the night.

In addition to Burckhard’s efforts at the net, the Golden Eagles got 10 kills from Kamdyn Borge and eight more from Jaidyn Forsyth, including back-to-back put-downs to end the second set.

Camryn Albrecht chimed in with 18 assists and two aces, while Mya Arampatzis got in on six different blocks.

“Kids with some experience need to go out there and set the tone a little bit,” Bindenagel said. “Our experience matters in matches like that. We’re still trying to establish some leaders. We have some, we just need to get rolling a little sooner.”

Central will host third-rated O’Gorman Monday evening.

“We can always learn from our mistakes, but having high energy is always key,” Kleffman said. “We all just need to bring it and work together.”

Serving: Aberdeen Central 89-97 10 aces (Taylin Kleffman 21-23 3 aces, Camryn Albrecht 15-15 2 aces, Lauryn Burckhard 20-22 2 aces).

Hitting: Aberdeen Central 130-151 43 kills (Burckhard 34-41 15 kills, Kamdyn Borge 31-38 10 kills, Jaidyn Forsyth 19-21 8 kills).

Setting: Aberdeen Central 136-136 40 assists (Albrecht 68-68-18 assists, Alivia Miller 44-44 14 assists).

Digs: Aberdeen Central 93 (Kleffman 18, Kennadi Withers 21, Miller 11).

Blocks: Aberdeen Central 1 solo 18 assisted (Mya Arampatzis 6 assisted, Amelia Rife 1 solo 3 assisted).