Aberdeen Christian set the tone early, turned back a rally late and grabbed a sweep over Britton-Hecla in Region 1B volleyball action Tuesday night.

The Knights used another balanced attack to fuel a 25-10, 25-9, 25-17 volleyball victory at Aberdeen Christian Gym.

“Everybody played a nice role tonight just getting the job done, what they’re responsible for,” said Christian coach Maggie Jett.

The Knights dominated the first two sets, bolting out to a 7-2 lead in the opening set and an 8-0 advantage in the second set. The Braves then dug in and made life interesting in the third set, leading 16-12 at one stage before Christian rattled off 13 of the last 14 points to secure the sweep.

“They pushed back in the third set last time, too,” said Jett, who told her players to be prepared for a potential Britton-Hecla rally. “I told them that at the beginning of third set, be ready for it. They fought back and got the job done.”

Christian was led by Mary Fites with 10 kills and Mallory Miller with nine. Emily Schwan and Kaylee Block each finished with three ace serves.

The Knights once again received key contributions from a variety of players.

“This is our first season together all as a team,” said senior Hanna Miller of the team’s chemistry. “We’re just all really good friends. Most of us play multiple sports with each other so we bonded.”

Christian features a tall squad with multiple hitters and a backrow that gets to many balls (the Knights had 49 digs led by Joy Rohrbach with 20).

“They do great up at the net, they’re strong all the way around hitting and I don’t think they had a bad pass,” said Britton-Hecla coach Megan Ochsner. “Every time we sent something over, they were setting it right to their setter. That’s tough to defend that when you’re getting perfect passes and they’re just hitting at a hundred percent pretty much. Our backrow worked really hard to get some good digs up, but then we just weren’t able to finish up at the net, either and just sending over too easy balls for them to finish.”

While the Knights were solid nearly all evening, Hanna Miller said there is still room for improvement.

“We can play a lot better,” she said. “We had one ball drop, we had some miscommunication on some hits. We can place them better. Our intensity can be a lot better.”

Jenner Werner led the Braves with four kills and Alyssa James had a pair. The Braves finished the season with a 12-11 record.

Ochsner likes the direction that the program is heading.

“Our girls have come a long ways in the last five years,” Ochsner said. “We’re going upwards right now.”

The Knights, 21-3, take on defending State B champion Northwestern in the semifinals at around 7 p.m. Thursday in Groton. Christian lost a previous matchup in four sets.

“I’m looking forward to it. Unfortunately, the last time we played them we had several players that were pretty ill at the time and we were in kind of a funk with what was going on with our team,” Jett said. “Just not our best night against them and we were still able to take a set, so I’m looking forward to a more hopefully even matchup on Thursday. I think the girls are up for it. It will be a challenge, though for sure. It’s always a challenge against Northwestern.”

Serving: Britton-Hecla 31-36 4 aces (Tiyanna Schott 6-6 1 ace, Sterling Brassfield 6-7 1 ace); Aberdeen Christian 64-71 13 aces (Emily Schwan 15-17 3 aces, Kaylee Block 15-16 3 aces).

Hitting: Britton-Hecla 56-66 12 kills (Jenna Werner 21-23 4 kills, Alyssa James 9-10 2 kills); Aberdeen Christian 67-71  38 kills (Mary Fites 21-21 10 kills, Mallory Miller 10-13 9 kills).

Setting: Britton-Hecla (Chloe Furman 42-42 7 assists); Aberdeen Christian (Block 67-68 30 assists).

Digs: Britton-Hecla 19 (Katee Freeman 8); Aberdeen Christian 49 (Joy Rohrbach 20, Fites 7).

Blocks: Britton-Hecla (Brassfield 1 solo); Aberdeen Christian 6 solos 4 assists (Miller 3 solos 2 assists, Grace Kaiser 1 solo 1 assist).