Not only is the streak getting more impressive by the number, it’s also getting more impressive by the opponent.
Aberdeen Christian won its sixth straight volleyball match, this time defeating 20-win Ipswich in set scores of 25-14, 25-21, 17-25, 25-22 in Lake Region Conference action at the Christian School Gym Tuesday night.
What made the victory even more special for the Knights is that they overcame a 15-7 deficit in the fourth set.
“I teared up a little bit after the game in our huddle,” said Christian coach Sally Stoebner, “because I’m just really proud of the grit that they showed. We didn’t battle back once, we battled back twice. My girls played an awesome game of volleyball.”
The contest felt like anything but a regular-season match as intensity was evident from the opening serve of the night.
“That’s what it should be,” said Ipswich coach Trent Osborne. “You’re in the last two weeks of the season and you’ve got two good teams going at it. That’s what it should look like.”
The Knights set the tone early with their serving, playing with the lead in both of the first two sets.
“Ipswich is a really great passing team and I just think we put the pressure with our serve,” Stoebner said. “That first set they were out of system a lot and we were in system.”
That allowed players like Arianna Johnson to come out aggressively and take high-percentage swings at the net.
“That always helps getting the other team out of system,” Johnson said, “and just being able to put a ball down on them.”
Meanwhile, the Tigers looked out of sorts and were unable go get much traction in the early stages of the match.
“This was a difficult one, I would say,” said Ipswich’s Marley Guthmiller. “We got in our heads too much in the beginning.”
Ipswich was eventually able to claw its way back into the match, taking the third set and then bolting out to a big lead in the fourth as Guthmiller, who finished with a match-leading 17 kills, continued to rack up one kill after another.
“It’s super cool to go up against really great players,” Johnson said. “She’s a great player and we were just trying to get the ball away from her.”
It appeared a fifth set was imminent with the Tigers owning a eight-point lead midway through the fourth. However, that’s when the momentum would turn for one last time.
“That’s the game of volleyball,” Osborne said, “whoever captures the momentum at the right time usually ends up on top.”
With Johnson on the bench in a rotation change, the Knights were able to mount a big challenge eventually tying the score at 17-17.
“It was nerve-wrecking,” Johnson said of having to watch from the bench, “but it felt really good to see my team step up. It was great.”
Ipswich regained a brief lead at 20-17, but then managed just two more points the rest of the match.
“We were supposed to keep going, and we didn’t,” Guthmiller said. “We got in our heads. We thought too much about it, and we let them catch back up.”
Once again, the Tigers struggled with serve receive late in the match.
“We missed some calls on calling in or out, so we played some balls or didn’t play some balls that we should have,” Osborne said, “and it kind of captured that momentum and then they took it from there, because they’re a good team.”
While the Knights were just .500 a few weeks ago, they are closing the season on a surge which does not come as a surprise to Osborne.
“I said from the beginning that their record was not going to be representative of who they are and where they were going to get,” Osborne said. “They just needed to put some things together and they’re starting to show that now. … They looked really good tonight. We knew we were going to have to play well in order to beat them.”
Johnson, who finished with 13 kills, called the victory a highlight of the season, coming at just the right time.
“It definitely gave our team a lot of confidence going into playoffs and everything,” Johnson said. “It was great win for us.”
Stoebner was particularly pleased with the team effort the Knights displayed in securing the victory against a top-quality foe.
“There’s not one person on our team that didn’t do their role and didn’t do their role well,” Stoebner said. “I think everybody did a really nice job. We played a well-rounded volleyball game.”
The Knights will close out the regular season by hosting Ellendale, N.D. on Friday night. They will try to add another another victory before heading into the postseason.
“I think that is the biggest thing for us. We are a very mental team I think, and that win I hope gives my girls confidence,” Stoebner said. “I have all the confidence in the world for them, but this would be our sixth win in a row and I hope that they have some confidence.”
Serving: Ipswich 69-83 5 aces (Josie Knutson 21-23 3 aces, Marley Guthmiller 15-17 2 aces); Aberdeen Christian (Sawyer Schwan 4, Alexis Isakson 2, Arianna Johnson 2).
Hitting: Ipswich 173-190 35 kills (Guthmiller 96-94 17 kills, Natalie Crissman 53-57 13 kills, Jalyssa Hutson 14-15 2 kills); Aberdeen Christian (Johnson 13 kills, Jolie Fogarty 7 kills, Sophie Glynn 7 kills, Reagan Jett 6 kills).
Setting: Ipswich 147-149 32 assists (Knutson 115-117 28 assists); Aberdeen Christian (Schwan 36 assists).
Digs: Ipswich 89 (Brianna Geditz 28 Knutson 21); Aberdeen Christian (Payton Skarin 23, Isakson 19, Sophia Eichler 19).
Blocks: Ipswich 3 solo 6 assists (Karlie Weisser 2 solo 1 assist, Crissman 1 solo 1 assist); Aberdeen Christian (Johnson 2, Jett 1, Schwan 1).
Records: Ipswich 20-6; Aberdeen Christian 14-8.
