It was another slow start and another solid finish for Aberdeen Roncalli Tuesday night.

The Cavaliers wrapped up the regular season much like they played throughout their campaign en route to a 25-18, 25-16, 25-12 non-conference volleyball sweep over Herreid-Selby Area at the Roncalli Gym.

“We’re a slow starting team,” said Roncalli coach Leesa Ware. “It never fails, and then they come off and just go.”

On this occasion, Herreid-Selby Area scored the first three points of the night, all from Hannah Haskew, before the Cavaliers kicked it into gear and scored seven of the next eight points.

“I think that we just weren’t focused right from the start, but that kind of came around,” Ware said. “Then they finally got in their groove and they got comfortable, and we started playing our kind of ball.”

It was Karsyn Davis that helped to jump start the Roncalli offense, finishing with five kills in the opening set.

“I knew that we needed to start going,” Davis said, “and I just stepped in and tried to be the one to do that.”

The junior credited those around her for finding open holes on the other side of the net.

“My coaches and my teammates they kind of direct me,” Davis said. “I knew where the open spots were. They told me where those were and I just tried to aim for those, so I guess I would give it all to them.”

Davis had back-to-back kills in Roncalli’s opening surge. She said that once one shot falls, it makes it easier to convert more.

“It definitely builds my confidence,” Davis said. “We kind of started off a little slow, but once I got my first kill I realized that we could just keep going.”

While Roncalli features a balanced attack, Davis is a reliable hitter, according to Ware.

“Karsyn is a very silent attacker,” Ware said. “She plays a very, very key role. … When we need her to come through and just pull some big momentum, she’s there.”

The Wolverines came out strong, but were unable to slow down Roncalli as the match wore on.

“We came off of a really good solid win over Ipswich (Monday) night,” Haskew said, “and I think some of that energy carried over, especially in the first set a lot, so that really helped. There was just a hunger within our team to score those points.”

However, once the Cavaliers found their rhythm they were in control the rest of the way, bolting out to 6-1 leads in both the second and third sets for leads they never lost.

“Roncalli is such an awesome team,” said HSA coach Maria Sandmeier. “They’re hard to score on. They’re very scrappy and they move to the ball.”

Jillian Ellwein led a balanced Roncalli hitting attack with nine kills. Cambry Feickert had a match-best four aces.

Haskew did a little bit of everything for the Wolverines, finishing with two aces, six kills, eight set assists, 16 digs, and two assisted blocks.

Herreid-Selby Area had won three straight matches heading into Tuesday’s contest.

“The last couple of weeks we’ve had a really good drive,” Sandmeier said. “We’ve felt more like a team than we have all season long, with Jessie Johnson back at her healthiest and the addition of Hannah this year as a setter, and using her on the front side as a hitter has been really good.”

The Wolverines, who qualified for last year’s state tournament, head into Region 6B action next week.

Haskew said the team can take some positives from the setback against the Cavaliers.

“I think it really will help us focus in on what’s important and settle down as a team,” Haskew said, “figure out what works for us and how we can gel together, and just have the intentionality and purpose going into the rest of the season.”

Roncalli, which improved to 21-5, will get another chance to play at home when it will host the semifinals of the Region 1A tourney next week. The Cavaliers have an opening-round bye and will get to host the semis on Thursday, Nov. 5 by virtue of being the top seed.

“Being number one feels good in the region,” Ware said. “It feels really nice.”

Serving: Herreid-Selby Area 44-47 3 aces (Hannah Haskew 10-10 2 aces, Reagan Schuetzle 5-7 1 ace); Aberdeen Roncalli (Cambry Feickert 4 aces, Kenzington Basham 1 ace, Jillian Ellwein 1 ace).

Hitting: Herreid-Selby Area 90-110 18 kills (Haskew 21-25 6 kills, Alyssa Kaup 27-33 5 kills, Jessie Johnson 12-16 2 kills, Anna Shearer 7-7 2 kills, Rylee Hanson 14-18 2 kills); Aberdeen Roncalli (Ellwein 9 kills, Karsyn Davis 7 kills, Grace Cogley 6 kills, Gabby Thomas 5 kills).

Setting: Herreid-Selby Area 111-113 17 assists (Haskew 47-48 8 assists, Briley Helm 36-36 6 assists); Aberdeen Roncalli (Elyana Roach 26 assists, Feickert 2 assists).

Digs: Herreid-Selby Area 54 (Haskew 16, Gracin Thorstenson 16, Helm 10); Aberdeen Roncalli (Feickert 41, Cogley 13, Ellwein 13).

Blocks: Herreid-Selby Area 1 solo 7 assists (Hanson 1 solo 2 assists, Johnson 2 assists, Haskew 2 assists, Alexa Secker 1 assist); Aberdeen Roncalli (Thomas 1 solo 1 assist, Davis 1 solo, Cogley 1 assist).

Records: Herreid-Selby Area 13-17; Aberdeen Roncalli 21-5.