Sally Stoebner’s first win as a head coach came in a one-sided sweep over Waverly-South Shore.
The Aberdeen Christian Knights defeated the Waverly-South Shore Coyotes 25-10, 25-13, and 25-8 Tuesday night from the Aberdeen Christian School Gym for their first win under new reigns.
“It feels awesome. I’m glad we could put together an offense and just kill the ball,” Stoebner said.
The balanced offense stood out for the Knights as they had eight different girls with a kill on the night. Of those players, Jolie Fogarty led the way with double-digit kills.
“It felt really good. I think we were just really connecting today,” Fogarty said. “We were just really connecting with our setter and getting things going better.”
Having that many weapons on the floor puts pressure on opposing defenses.
“I mean spreading the offense. You can’t win the game with one really good hitter, you can’t,” Stoebner said. “You have to have pressure on the blocks, so they have to make decisions, and we created seams. I think our setter did a really good job.”
Even though Fogarty was on top of the list in kills, she knows how important it is to have multiple attackers.
“It’s definitely really important, because it just really takes the pressure off one hitter and just gives everyone a chance to score,” Fogarty said. “Everyone’s hyping each other up and that’s really important. So, it’s not just like one person getting all the credit, it’s just like everyone’s kind of doing their part.”
On top of the stellar offense, the Knights’ defense held the Coyotes to single-digit kills throughout the night.
“Ali (Isakson) did a really good job at getting digs tonight,” said Christian junior Payton Skarin. “And our blockers did a really good job on stopping all the hits.”
It also helps when the opposing team is playing on its heels due to aggressive serving.
“I mean, honestly, I think I’d put it on our pressure serving,” Stoebner said. “That’s one thing that we did not do in our last game, so we went back to the gym, we worked on it, and I’m glad that they executed in the game today.”
The pressure from the serves really stood out in the last set where the Knights served for 18 straight points as they jumped out to a 18-0 lead. Skarin was at the line and tacked on four aces in that time frame.
“It was a lot of pressure, but we practiced serving a lot in practice, so we’re used to having a lot of reps in serving,” Skarin said. “And doing it every day and doing it for like 10 minutes a day. So, it was easier than anything.”
Skarin uses a couple different strategies from the service line to find success.
“My coaches give us spots to serve, and we practice serving all the time, so I just look at my coaches and they tell me where to serve. And I just serve there,” Skarin said. “Yeah, I just hit it as hard as I can and hope it goes in sometimes.”
That serving practice showed up Tuesday night as the Knights recorded 15 aces in total. The team’s back row is told to be aggressive when it comes to offense as well.
“I encourage all of my back row players, one, I want them to kill the ball from the back row, I want them to be an option,” Stoebner said. “And I want them to score points from the service line. That’s all I can ask from them.”
What also separates the Knights from other teams is that they have a three-time NSIC All-Conference hitter giving them looks as Stoebner transitions from being a player to a coach.
“Oh boy, it’s hard sometimes, but I play really often in practice. I like to get after them, so I get my fix during practice,” Stoebner said. “I try to communicate what I’m seeing at all times, because I feel like I know the game so well, and I’m trying to teach that to my players.”
The Knights will look to build on their first victory as they head on the road to take on Herreid-Selby Area on Thursday.
“It feels really great, especially after our last game, we just really needed this one to get us going and give us that confidence to get a lot more wins this season,” Fogarty said.
“We just gotta keep on playing how we were playing tonight,” Skarin said.
