Playing in its first home match in a month, Aberdeen Christian used a strong service attack to grab a Region 1B volleyball victory Tuesday night.

The Knights struggled early, but finished strong late on the way to a 25-20, 25-23, 25-17 sweep over Waubay-Summit at the Christian School Gym.

Christian trailed 13-10 in the opening set, rallied from 15-10 and 23-20 deficits in the second set, and then pulled away from a 10-9 edge in final set.

“We did battle back. Was that the game plan? No. I always want us to start strong and it was a bummer,” said Christian coach Sally Stoebner. “I’m glad that we figured it out in all three sets. The third set we finally came out strong and started with the lead, which always feels good.”

A big key for the Knights was their ability to win points from the service line. Christian racked up 12 aces and went on long scoring runs because of its serving.

“We practice serving for 10-15 minutes every day at practice,” said Christian senior Sawyer Schwan. “During games when we’re serving, Sally gives us spots to serve. We don’t really pick our own spots. She knows where to put the ball.”

The Mustangs never really got into a rhythm in serve receive as they were unable to stop scoring runs that erased leads they had established.

“We struggled,” said Waubay-Summit coach Jennifer Aker. “They’re tough servers.”

The Knights scored five unanswered points late in the first set to take control down the stretch. Part of that run featured a dump shot from Schwan. She executed the shot a handful of times during the match, catching the Mustangs off guard.

“If I see an open spot, I’ll just dump it there in the middle of a messy play, a long rally,” Schwan said. “I’ll just dump it there to kind of shake them up.”

Stoebner has confidence in Schwan to make that play, and also pick the right time to attempt it.

“I think she has a good idea of when the other team has scrambled. I like that she does it in the midst of a long rally,” Stoebner said. “What a way to disrupt their defense, and be like ‘hey, I’m here, too. I actually am a threat.'”

It appeared that the Mustangs might be able to level the match in the second set, but they were unable to hold on to a five-point lead midway through the set and a three-point lead late, just two points from winning the set. Arianna Johnson delivered back-to-back kills for Christian to finish off the set as the Knights took a commanding two-set lead.

The Knights then went on a 10-1 run in the final set to turn a one-point edge into a 20-10 advantage.

Waubay-Summit had a game plan going into the match “to block them, get to the corners, watch the line,” said Mustangs senior middle hitter Mackenzie Zubke.

However, once the Knights got rolling it was difficult to slow them down. Christian finished with 39 kills, led by Johnson with 15 and Reagan Jett with 11.

Zubke did her own damage at the net, finishing with six kills. She also had multiple service runs.

“The first one I just try to get it over the net and then I go harder,” Zubke said of her serving strategy, “and go deep and then short, switch it up.”

The Mustangs finished the season at 10-15, despite missing senior Addison Heinje for a portion of the campaign.

“It was a tough season,” Aker said. “Addison got hurt the second, third week of the year, came back the last three weeks, so we were full strength, but it was tough. The girls fought through, they stayed with it, they trusted each other, we just fell short.”

Schwan was honored during the game for getting her 2,000th career assist while the Knights were on the road. She is the school’s all-time leader in that category.

“I just try to focus on the team,” Schwan said. “I do everything for them, and they push me to do my best.”

Schwan has been orchestrating the team’s offense for multiple seasons.

“We’re all super proud of her,” Stoebner said. “She’s been setting on the varsity team for a long time.”

Christian, 21-9, will now head to Mellette on Thursday to take on Northwestern (31-5) in the next round of the postseason.

The Wildcats won a pair of regular-season matches over the Knights.

“We’re really excited,” Stoebner said. “I’ve been wanting to have another chance at them since the last time we played them.”

Serving: Waubay-Summit (Addison Heinje 8-9 2 aces, Brynlee Amdahl 9-11 2 aces, Mackenzie Zubke 11-11 1 ace); Sawyer Schwan 1).

Hitting: Waubay-Summit (Heinje 6 kills, Zubke 6 kills, Elise Aker 5 kills, Peyton Rumpza 3 kills); Aberdeen Christian 39 kills (Johnson 15, Reagan Jett 11, Schwan 4, Jolie Fogarty 4).

Setting: Waubay-Summit (Amdahl 32-32 9 assists, Caley Boik 25-25 7 assists, Casharie Neilan 6-6 3 assists); Aberdeen Christian (Schwan 31 assists, Skarin 2 assists).

Digs: Waubay-Summit (Aker 9, Heinje 9, Amdahl 8); Aberdeen Christian (Skarin 18, Jolie Fogarty 12, Jacie Fogarty 8, Johnson 6).

Blocks: Waubay-Summit (Heinje 2 solo, Aker 1 solo); Aberdeen Christian 1 (Johnson 1 solo).

Records: Waubay-Summit 10-15; Aberdeen Christian 21-9.