The Aberdeen Central Golden Eagles battled through several slow starts Tuesday night, rallying from behind in three of the four sets to defeat Sioux Falls Jefferson.

Central picked up the non-conference volleyball win with set scores of 25-20, 25-20, 13-25 and 25-20 at Golden Eagles Arena.

The hosts trailed for at least half of the first three sets before finding their rhythm and making key runs to close out each of their two wins.

Central came out with an early lead in the fourth set and never looked back, finishing off the Cavaliers to secure the match.

A major part of the Golden Eagles’ comeback ability was their serving, as Central used several serving runs to put Jefferson out of system and create opportunities offensively.

“I thought once our serving game got in rhythm, then we were able to get them out of system, that was a high point for us,” said Central coach Jackie Bindenagel. “A lot of kids contributed offensively, and Lauryn (Burckhard), Karlie (Nieman), and Alivia (Miller) combined for around 30 kills.”

Miller led the Golden Eagles offensively with 12 kills and also added a team-high four aces. She contributed 13 set assists. Burckhard finished with 10 kills and two aces, while Nieman added seven kills and an ace. All three are seniors.

Bindenagel said the contributions from the team’s seniors were important throughout the match.

“Alivia led us with aces; those seniors did a nice job tonight,” Bindenagel said. “When we started down, we just needed to have some serving runs and we did that. Finally in the fourth we had a good start, so we will have to take a look at our rotations, and see how we want to move forward with that.”

Junior setter Camryn Albrecht also played an important role for Central, stepping in to set while Miller was used as a hitter, finishing with 13 set assists.

“I thought I did a good job stepping in to set when we needed Liv to hit,” Albrecht said. “I think we did a good job with our serve receive, making sure we got the pass up and taking big swings. We work really hard every day, so we definitely have a lot of fight.”

Miller said Central’s ability to adjust offensively helped the Golden Eagles find success as the match continued.

“It shows we want to keep pushing and we want to win,” Miller said. “We found open spots, instead of tipping at the net, our coach wanted us to take big swings, so we started to swing away. Cam and I definitely try to put up a good ball for our hitters and our passes got so much better.”

The Golden Eagles’ only major setback came in the third set, when Jefferson pulled away for a 12-point victory. Central responded in the fourth set, however, taking an early lead and maintaining control to close out the match.

Bindenagel was proud of the way her team responded after facing adversity throughout the night.

“The kids dug in and picked up their game defensively,” Bindenagel said. “I was really proud of how they settled in and played through some of those lows.”

Central, 7-2 on the season, plays at third-rated Brandon Valley on Saturday.

Serving: Aberdeen Central 9 aces (Alivia Miller 4, Lauryn Burckhard 2, Camryn Albrecht 1, Karlie Nieman 1, Julia Malsam 1).

Hitting: Aberdeen Central 44 kills (Miller 12, Burckhard 10, Nieman 7, Annie Bindenagel 7).

Setting: Aberdeen Central 36 assists (Albrecht 13, Miller 13).

Digs: Aberdeen Central 86 (Miller 18, Kalli Huff 15, Bindenagel 14, Burckhard 14, Nieman 12 Albrecht 10).

Blocks: Aberdeen Central 2 solo (Burckhard 1, Kyley Wirebaugh 1).

Records: Sioux Falls Jefferson 3-5; Aberdeen Central 7-2.