Aberdeen Central snapped a brief two-match slide with an efficient performance Tuesday night.
The Golden Eagles defeated Tea Area 25-19, 25-12, 25-22 in Eastern South Dakota Conference volleyball action at the Golden Eagles Arena.
While the Titans have just two wins on the season, Central was not about to overlook its opponent.
“I just feel like we can’t underestimate them,” said senior Jaidyn Forsyth. “We can’t come in for sure thinking we’re gonna win. We still have to look at it like it’s every other game.”
In the first set, the Golden Eagles got off to a slow start with a few too many self-inflicted wounds. However, they were able to get beyond their own mistakes to secure the opening set.
“Just had some stretches of unforced errors and maybe didn’t communicate the best,” said Central coach Jackie Bindenagel. “So just a few more things to work on (Wednesday) at practice.”
Lauryn Burckhard had four kills in the first set, three coming in the first three points of the match.
Central scored the first four points of the second set for a lead it never lost in dominating that set. Forsyth said it helps to get off to a good start and play with a lead.
“It is really important because then it just keeps our energy high,” Forsyth said. “And I feel like when we get a lead early on, it’s just easier to keep our hitting percentages up.”
The Golden Eagles did major damage from the service line in the second set, collecting six of their eight total aces in that set. Camryn Albrecht accounted for three of those, all coming back-to-back-to-back.
“I don’t think so, not three in a row,” said Albrecht when asked if that has ever happened. “My coach just giving me the zones and I just put them in the spot, because I know she knew where their weakest passers were, so I put them there and it just ended up being an ace.”
Forsyth scored a pair of points for Central to wipe out an early one-point deficit in the third set. The Titans kept things close throughout the set and eventually sliced a 19-14 deficit down to 23-22 before Central finished off the sweep.
Albrecht in the back line was communicating with the front line to help the Golden Eagles close out the match.
“I was just trying to see the open court, trying to tell my hitters where to hit it,” said Albrecht. “We were trying to get our free balls on the net so we could run some more quick routes.”
Forsyth focused on still having fun while being serious.
“I feel like we can’t get too serious or else,” Forsyth said. “We have to keep our energy up still, and still smile and laugh about things and just keep having fun.”
Forsyth and Burckhard each finished with nine kills on the night. Listed at just 5-foot 7-inches, Forsyth, a right-side hitter, takes advantage of balls at the net.
“I know I’m not the tallest one out there,” Forsyth said, “but I still try my hardest to get the ball on the ground and get points somehow.”
Forsyth was just one of multiple weapons Central employed against Tea Area.
“I thought we passed really well tonight. Just the serve pass game went well for us,” Bindenagel said. “And I felt like we were pretty efficient at the net.”
The Golden Eagles will travel to Fargo, N.D., this weekend for a large tournament before taking on one of the best teams in the country when they play at Harrisburg on Thursday.
“In the tournament, we play some pretty good teams, too. We’re just gonna have to go, show up and play our best,” Albrecht said. “And then just hopefully that prepares us for more of the Harrisburg stuff, but you do what you can against them.”
Serving: Aberdeen Central 65-73 8 aces (Camryn Albrecht 9-10 3 aces, Kenadi Withers 13-14 2 aces, Lauryn Burckhard 13-14 2 aces).
Hitting: Aberdeen Central 83-98 32 kills (Burckhard 26-32 9 kills, Jaidyn Forsyth 15-17 9 kills, Kamdyn Borge 17-18 8 kills).
Setting: Aberdeen Central 87-88 28 assists (Alivia Miller 38-38 14 assists, Albrecht 34-35 10 assists).
Digs: Aberdeen Central 54 (Burckhard 13, Taylin Kleffman 12, Withers 10)
Blocks: Aberdeen Central 2 solo 10 assisted (Amelia Rife 2 solo 2 assisted, Mya Arampatzis 3 assisted, Burckhard 3 assisted).
Records: Tea Area 2-16; Aberdeen Central 8-5.
