RAPID CITY – The Warner Monarchs set the tone with their serves and then finished off Aberdeen Christian with their swings Thursday night.

Warner won its 17th straight match with a 25-15, 25-16, 25-18 sweep over the Knights during the opening round of the Class B State Volleyball Tournament at The Monument.

“We have a lot of weapons. We had some kids out of the back row tonight, I was like wow, they were swinging,” said Warner coach Kari Jung. “We’ve been trying to get the Marcuson twins (Kyra and Lauren) to swing more out of the back row when we’re out of system and they had some good ones tonight.”

The Monarchs racked up 50 kills as a team, led by Jennifer Aman with 17 and Kyra Marcuson with 16.

Warner was able to find ways around a tall Christian front line to avoid blocks.

“Move the ball around pin to pin,” Kyra Marcuson said of the strategy. “Hopefully, we only have one blocker (to deal with), so we can hit around it, keep the ball in play.”

The Monarchs kept the Knights off balance all match long thanks in large part to their serving.

“We couldn’t get in system. They’re just a tough serving team,” said Christian coach Maggie Jett. “Our passers did the best they could.”

When the Knights were able to get the ball back, it often resulted in free balls or soft touches, which Warner aggressively attacked with powerful swings.

“The difference is they’re attacking every ball towards us and we’re struggling to stay in system and attack back,” Jett said. “Every time we adjusted something to what they were doing, then they would adjust to what we were doing and be able to capitalize a little bit better.”

A key to Warner’s current winning streak has been an aggressive serving style.

“We have been serving hard,” Kyra Marcuson said, “and our goal is to keep the ball in play, because we trust our defense to keep it up after that.”

That defense was solid the entire match and provided something that Christian was not accustomed to facing for the most part this season.

“They picked up a lot of stuff,” said Christian senior Mary Fites. “The rallies were a lot longer. That’s something we weren’t used to, because we usually get a kill pretty quickly or get a side out.”

Not only was Warner’s defense solid in the back row, it was also effective in the front row.

The Monarchs were able to get their hands on balls when Christian was able to mount an aggressive attack.

“They do have some good weapons. They have some great size and Fites is just a great outside hitter,” Jung said. “When we got a few touches, I think that helped. That made them have to do some tipping and we were able to defend that a little bit.”

Hanna Miller topped Christian with seven kills.

Fites said that while there were a few nerves for the team’s first ever state tourney match, she had fun and is looking forward to two more days of volleyball.

“I think these next couple of games are going to be good,” Fites said, “and I’m looking forward to them.”

The Knights (23-4) will face Arlington in consolation action at 1:45 this afternoon.

Jett said there was nothing wrong with her team’s effort against Warner.

“These girls have never been to state. They played them the best we ever have. Every time we play them we get better,” she said. “Our defensive effort I thought was really strong tonight. I thought the girls played hard. I told them we have nothing to hang our head about. It’s just a good team we lost to.”

Warner (31-5) faces Faulkton, another Lake Region Conference foe, in the semifinals at 7:45 this evening. The Monarchs will try to make it 18 wins in a row.

“We’re going to hit as hard as we can,” Kyra Marcuson said, “and then we’ll probably place balls some and keep going from there.”

While they will game plan for Faulkton, don’t look for many changes from the Monarchs, who are the hottest team in Class B right now.

“We want to just stick to what our strengths are, because if we try to change it too much we’re going to make a lot of errors,” Jung said. “I think we did use our strengths tonight and ran some good balls.”

Serving: Aberdeen Christian 3 aces (Emily Schwan 2, Chloe Bosma 1); Warner 6 aces (Ava Nilsson 2, Courtney Bjorgaard 1, Kyra Marcuson 1, Kamryn Anderson 1).

Hitting: Aberdeen Christian 17 kills (Hanna Miller 7, Mary Fites 4, Mallory Miller 3, Grace Kaiser2); Warner 50 kills (Jennifer Aman 17, Marcuson 16, Anderson 6, Kyleigh Schoppl 4).

Setting: Aberdeen Christian 17 assists (Kaylee Block 14); Warner 49 assists (Nilsson 38).

Digs: Aberdeen Christian 62 (Joy Rohrbach 15, H. Miller 13, Fites 9, Block 7); Warner 58 (Bjorgaard 18, Kiah Koch 11, Marcuson 10, Nilsson 6).

Blocks: Aberdeen Christian 1 solo (Fites 1); Warner 6 assists (Marcuson 2, Anderson 2, Nilsson 1, Schopp 1).

Records: Aberdeen Christian 23-4; Warner 31-5.