Aberdeen Roncalli used a stellar start and a solid finish to punch its ticket to next week’s SoDak 16.

The Cavaliers scored the first nine points to start the match and the last six points to conclude it in a 25-6, 25-14, 25-22 win over Webster during Region 1A volleyball action Thursday night at Roncalli Gym.

“A lot of it’s a mental game. I do have to say kudos to them,” said Roncalli coach Leesa Ware of her players. “They powered through and were mentally tough and got to the end point, exactly where we needed to be.”

Roncalli will now take on Sioux Valley on Tuesday in the SoDak 16.

The Cavaliers dominated the opening set against Webster, surrendering just six points. Roncalli then controlled the second set as well, opening up a two-set advantage.

“The start of the game we were getting aces,” said Roncalli’s Jillian Ellwein. “We were communicating really, really well. We were finding their open spots.”

Things changed in a major way in the third set, however, and Ware warned her players that it might.

“Going into set number three, I told the girls this is do or die for them,” Ware said of the Bearcats. “They’re not going to give up easily. They’re going to come out and they’re going to want this.”

Webster soon started playing with more confidence and surged in front 14-9. The Bearcats eventually opened up a 22-19 lead and put the Cavaliers in a tough spot.

“Our serve receive did end up picking up a little bit,” said Webster coach Emily Wagner, “and that gave us a lot more opportunities with setting multiple hitters and having the options to set multiple hitters and things like that.”

The Bearcats also took a message to heart from their coach after the second set.

“We kind of said before that third set, OK, we got better in the second, and I said we can do even better in the third,” Wagner said. “Especially you seniors, I want you to think how do you want to end your year, how do you want to go out, and I think they took that and rolled with it, and it showed in the third set.”

Webster played with a sense of urgency and did not go quietly.

“We just realized that this was our last chance,” said outside hitter Mallory Steiner. “We had to do what we had to do and give it our all.”

The Bearcats, who started out the evening tentative, became more and more aggressive, both with their hitting and their blocking.

“We definitely started playing a lot looser,” Steiner said, “and then it got close again and then we kind of tensed up a little bit.”

Roncalli was able to regain the momentum just in time to finish off the match and avoid a fourth set.

The Cavaliers overcame that 22-19 deficit by scoring the final six points, half of them coming on kills by Grace Cogley to complete the sweep.

“At the end of the third set to get that momentum back, when we get those big kills, get those aces, we really have to celebrate them, because it helps bring you momentum to get those other points,” Ellwein said. “What you have to realize, we have to communicate, we have to side out and we just have to push.”

The Cavaliers featured a balanced hitting attack led by Karsyn Davis with nine kills, followed by Cogley with eight and Ellwein with seven.

“What’s really nice about our team is our depth,” Ware said. “We have a very deep bench, which is really nice.”

Ware was pleased with her team’s all-around performance as the team improved to 22-5 on the season.

“I thought that we were playing aggressively, we were moving our feet,” Ware said. “Our swinging was good, even our serving, we were serving aggressively. I don’t think we had very many errors at all.”

Webster concluded its season with a 13-12 record, and a strong set to cap off the year.

“Definitely obviously would have helped to get them on their heels a little bit sooner than we did, but they’re a good team,” Wagner said. “They’ve lost five matches all year.”

Steiner finished with four kills and 15 digs. The senior was proud of the way her team fought back in the final set.

“That just shows that we have a lot of grit and determination, even though we were down two sets,” Steiner said.

Ellwein added a dozen digs to go along with her kill total. The outside hitter is a key contributor from both the back row and at the net.

“My mindset of playing in the backrow, I have to move my feet,” Ellwein said. “You always, always have to read their setter. … In the front row I just feel like I need to pound the ball down, basically.”

Roncalli will take an eight-match winning streak into the SoDak 16. The Cavaliers will now try to clear the final hurdle and get to the state tournament.

“We just need to remain focused,” Ware said. “We need to play our game, we need to come out strong, (be) defensively tough, and hopefully we get to that next level.”

Serving: Webster 2 aces (Mallory Steiner 1, Kinsey Kuecker 1); Aberdeen Roncalli (Grace Cogley 2 aces, Elyana Roach 1, Danica Zacher 1).

Hitting: Webster 12 kills (Steiner 4, Braelynn Breske 3, Chloe Mammenga 3); Aberdeen Roncalli (Karsyn Davis 9 kills, G. Cogley 8 kills, Jillian Ellwein 7 kills, Filly Cogley 4 kills).

Setting: Webster 10 assists (Mammenga 10); Aberdeen Roncalli (Roach 27 assists, Cambry Feickert 1 assist).

Digs: Webster 63 (Kuecker 19, Steiner 15, Jaden Lorensberg 8, Mammenga 8); Aberdeen Roncalli (Feickert 21, G. Cogley 15, Ellwein 12).

Blocks: Webster 3 solo 2 assists (Marlee Dornbusch 1 solo 1 assist, Steiner 1 solo, Sarah Zubke 1 solo, Callie Shoemaker 1 assist); Aberdeen Roncalli (Gabby Thomas 1 solo, F. Cogley 1 assist, C. Cogley 1 assist).

Records: Webster 13-12; Aberdeen Roncalli 22-5.