Aberdeen Central was determined to play with intensity on Monday.

The Golden Eagles swept O’Gorman 25-13, 25-17, 25-17 to earn a non-conference volleyball win at Golden Eagles Arena.

Central came out with a fury in the opening set, outscoring the Knights 6-1 before an O’Gorman timeout.

Freshman outside hitter Lauryn Burckhard described the intensity that the Golden Eagles came out with.

“I think right away we just wanted to beat them, because we’ve been on a winning streak,” Burckhard said.

Central proved to be too much in the first set, cruising to the win and setting the tone for the rest of the match.

“Ayrlie Waldo just started it off at the service line and everybody fell in line with that,” said Central coach Jackie Bindenagel. “All of our hitters were effective, our block was up right away, our defense was good. I feel like every element of our game looked good tonight.”

The Golden Eagles continued to control the match despite attempts from the Knights to slow down the Central attack. Central led throughout the second set, and although O’Gorman made it a struggle to finish the set, the Golden Eagles managed to find the energy they needed to grab a two-set lead.

“We needed everyone to have energy on the court, and then we finally found it and just got those few points that we needed to win,” Burckhard said.

With Central holding a 24-17 set two advantage, Bindenagel called a timeout to make sure her team was able to put the set away.

“We just talked about just stick with what we know how to do, where do we want to go on the serve receive rotation,” Bindenagel said, “and they came right out and executed it.”

Unlike previous matches this season that resulted in losses to other Sioux Falls schools such as Washington and Lincoln, Central performed with a different attitude against the Knights.

“We just talk about playing with nothing to lose. They don’t get any more points because they’re from Sioux Falls, and we talked in the locker room before about all the things that are going really well for us right now,” Bindenagel said. “We just want to focus on that, have a great time when we’re playing, and not play so nervous and tense.”

In the third set, O’Gorman matched Central point for point early on. The set was tied at 12 before the Golden Eagles eventually pulled away, outscoring the Knights 13-5 to finish the set, and ultimately the match.

“We had a server come in who just served really aggressively and got them out of system,” Bindenagel said. “You scrape together a few points and get a little gap and things change.”

Burckhard said the team needed to come together to finish the match.

“We needed to communicate and talk through everything else,” Burckhard said.

Burckhard and Grace Kuch each finished with 13 kills to lead the team, while Kuch added 13 digs. Ashley Wangler had eight kills, while Madison Miller led with 15 digs. Waldo had 24 assists, 14 digs, and two aces, and Sawyer Bahr had 13 digs and two aces.

Central (9-3) will travel to Brandon Valley on Thursday. Burckhard said there are things the team will need to continue to work on.

“I think being together as a team more often,” Burckhard said, “and our energy.”

Bindenagel says she does not want to underestimate the matchup against the Lynx.

“I think their record doesn’t indicate the type of team they are,” Bindenagel said. “They’ve lost quite a few in set five or some really close matches, so it’s another tough AA contest.”

Serving: Aberdeen Central 66-70 5 aces (Ayrlie Wald 2 aces, Sawyer Bahr 2 aces, Emma Dohrer 1 ace).

Hitting: Aberdeen Central 128-140 41 kills (Lauryn Burckhard 24-28 13 kills, Grace Kuch 35-40 13 kills, Ashley Wangler 16-18 8 kills, Kenadi Withers 12-12 5 kills).

Setting: Aberdeen Central 99-100 32 assists (Waldo 69-69 24 assists, Dohrer 21-22 7 assists).

Digs: Aberdeen Central 67 digs (Madison Miller 15 digs, Waldo 14 digs, Bahr 13 digs, Kuch 13 digs, Dohrer 8 digs).

Blocks: Aberdeen Central 2 solo 2 assists (Taryn Nieman 2 solo 1 assist, Burckhard 1 assist).

Records: O’Gorman 6-6; Aberdeen Central 9-3.