With the match on the line, Karsyn Davis exploited a spot on the other side of the net to help pave the way to victory Monday night at Roncalli Gym.
The Aberdeen Roncalli hitter produced five kills in the fifth set to lift the Cavaliers to a hard-fought 19-25, 21-25, 25-20, 25-16, 15-9 non-conference volleyball win over Aberdeen Christian.
“I had a lot of help from my back row,” Davis said. “They told me where to go. I knew there was a spot there to go.”
The sophomore repeatedly landed soft-touch kills in the final set to help the Cavaliers pull away for the win.
“She was our miracle worker in that fifth set,” said Roncalli coach Leesa Ware. “She just kept on going and going, and I’m so proud of her. We just told her exactly what spot, and we said Karsyn keep aiming for it until they adjust the defense, and she did just that.”
Christian coach Sally Stoebner she said told her players what to look for, but the Knights were unable to cover the spot before the Cavaliers secured the win.
“We’ve got to stay disciplined on defense, especially since we played such good defense up until that point,” Stoebner said. “I’d say the whole night up until the fifth set, were picking up everything they could throw. Then they started finding the court and we started to hesitate and be timid.”
For the most part, the Cavaliers swung away throughout the match. However, they waited until an opportune time to back off and gently place the ball just out of the reach of the Knights defenders.
“I think they were just hitting really hard at us in the first couple sets,” said Christian setter Sawyer Schwan, “and then they kind of realized that tipping was working for them, and so they kind of got into that.”
The setback was a tough one to swallow for the Knights, who lost two close battles last week.
“It’s kind of defeating, because we work so hard for it,” Schwan said. “We get down and then we can’t get back up.”
It’s a pattern that Stoebner has seen before, where her team plays well, but can quite get the win at the finish.
“I saw a lot of grit tonight out of my team once again. I know they have it,” Stoebner said. “We need to be able to finish a volleyball game. We did such a good job our first and second set.”
To Roncalli’s credit, the Cavaliers did not panic when their backs were against the wall.
“I am very, very proud of those girls,” Ware said. “We talked a lot about not giving up and eliminating errors and keeping the momentum and energy on our side, and they did exactly that tonight. They did not roll over. They just showed that they could get it done.”
Christian was able to claim the first two sets with aggressive serving, forcing the Cavaliers to scramble to stay in points.
“They had our serve receive all over the place,” Ware said. “I think they wanted to get us out of system and they did exactly that the first two sets.”
Roncalli was eventually able to gain some traction, level the match, and then have Davis take over in the fifth.
“I did know it was open, especially at the end,” Davis said of spot where the majority of her kills landed. “We talked about it a little bit between the games.”
The victory snapped a rare two-match losing streak at home for the Cavaliers and earned a measure of revenge for a loss to the Knights last season.
“This one is big,” Davis said. “As much as we did want to beat those other teams, this one is big considering that they are from here.”
Rylee Voeller, Jillian Ellwein and Grace Cogley each had 11 kills for Roncalli, and Davis finished with nine.
Christian’s Ari Johnson led all players with 20 kills. Jolie Fogarty followed with 14.
Schwan contributed two aces, 29 set assists, and 11 digs. She recorded her 1,000th career set assist last week.
“It was really emotional for me. I worked really hard for it,” Schwan said. “I’ve been wanting to get this milestone forever. I really did not expect it all, so it just felt really good.”
Roncalli, which hosts Sisseton on Thursday, improved to 6-3 with the win over the Knights.
“Aberdeen Christian is always such a fun team to play,” Ware said, “because they bring very good athletes, they bring a crowd, they bring a lot of energy.”
Christian, which slipped to 3-5 on the year, will host Waubay-Summit this evening at the Christian School Gym.
“Some days we do really good offensively, some days we do really good defensively,” Stoebner said. “Now we just got to get it all to come together, and just play seamless volleyball.”
Serving: Aberdeen Christian (Sophia Eichler 5 aces, Sawyer Schwan 2 aces, Payton Skarin 2 aces, Jolie Fogarty 1 ace, Alexis Isakson 1 ace); Aberdeen Roncalli (Ava Danielson 4 aces, Rylee Voeller 1 ace, Cambry Feickert 1 ace, Karsyn Davis 1 ace).
Hitting: Aberdeen Christian (Ari Johnson 20 kills, Fogarty 14 kills, Reagan Jett 6 kills, Sophie Glynn 6 kills); Aberdeen Roncalli (Voeller 11 kills, Jillian Ellwein 11 kills, Grace Cogley 11 kills, Davis 9 kills).
Setting: Aberdeen Christian (Schwan 29 assists); Aberdeen Roncalli (Elyana Roach 38 assists, Danielson 3 assists).
Digs: Aberdeen Christian (Skarin 25, Eichler 20, Fogarty 13, Isakson 11, Schwan 11); Aberdeen Roncalli (Feickert 23, Voeller 22, EIlwein 11, Danielson 11).
Blocks: Aberdeen Christian (Johnson 1 solo 1 assist, Glynn 2 assists, Jett 2 assists, Eichler 1 assist); Aberdeen Roncalli (Ellwein 1 solo, Cogley 2 assists, Reece Henrich 1 assist).
Records: Aberdeen Christian 3-5; Aberdeen Roncalli 6-3.
