MITCHELL – Aberdeen Central snapped a five-match losing streak and picked up a key volleyball win over Mitchell on Tuesday night.

The Golden Eagles, who are battling for a chance to host a home SoDak 16 match next month, collected a 25-18, 23-25, 25-22, 25-23 Eastern South Dakota Conference victory.

After Central controlled the opening set, the Kernels pulled out a tight second set and made things interesting in the third and fourth sets.

The Golden Eagles owned a 22-15 advantage in the third set, before Mitchell closed the gap to 23-22. Central then scored the final two points to secure the set. In the fourth, the Golden Eagles were up 19-10 only to have the hosts score 10 unanswered points to take a brief 20-19 lead. Central then went on a 5-1 surge and eventually captured the set to finish off the match.

“We got stuck in some rotations in a couple of sets,” said Central coach Jackie Bindenagel, “but I was really happy with how our kids found a way to finish sets two and four after they had given up some points.”

Lauryn Burckhard had 15 kills to lead a balanced hitting attack for the Golden Eagles. Alivia Miller followed with 13, and Kyley Wirebaugh added eight.

Kalli Huff finished with a team-leading 20 digs, and Central had a season-high 18 assisted blocks led by Kendyl Fischer with five.

“Mitchell played some really scrappy defense, and I can think of several balls that I assumed were down and they found a way to play them up,” Bindenagel said. “We had to play a lot of defense tonight. Our block did a really nice job … 18 assisted blocks, which is by far more than we’ve had yet this season.”

Central, 13-9 on the season, plays at Huron on Friday night.

Serving: Aberdeen Central 90-96 5 aces (Julia Malsam 16-16 1 ace, Alivia Miller 15-15 1 ace, Kalli Huff 14-15 1 ace, Lauryn Burckhard 10-11 1 ace, Karlie Nieman 18-10 1 ace).

Hitting: Aberdeen Central 122-143 48 kills (Burckhard 42-51 15 kills, Miller 25-28 13 kills, Kyley Wirebaugh 17-20 8 kills, Annie Bindenagel 24-26 6 kills, Nieman 9-11 5 kills).

Setting: Aberdeen Central 118-118 43 assists (Miller 55-55 22 assists, Camryn Albrecht 39-39 12 assists, Huff 15-15 4 assists).

Digs: Aberdeen Central 83 (Huff 20, Miller 15, Malsam 14, Burckhard 11, Albrecht 10).

Blocks: Aberdeen Central 18 assists (Kendyl Fischer 5, Burckhard 4, Nieman 4, Wirebaugh 2, Miller 2, Bindenagel 1).

Records: Aberdeen Central 13-9; Mitchell 8-12.