James Valley Christian found a tactic that was affective and it fueled a non-conference volleyball sweep over Aberdeen Christian Friday night.

The Vikings took advantage of a play called campfire in a 25-16, 25-21, 25-19 win at the Christian School Gym. Campfire basically is short balls that land in between defenders who end up circling the ball, but can’t do anything with it.

“We decided that if we went hard a couple of times, we just needed to find that middle campfire and it was working for us,” said JVC coach Becky Wipf, “so we just continued to go with it.”

The Knights, who were likely a bit fatigued from a five-set marathon match on Thursday, were a bit slow to react and were unable to extinguish the campfire.

“When I called a time out, I’m like, ‘Where are they killing us at?’ And they were all like ‘Campfire.’ And we still struggled to get there,” said Christian coach Sara Powell. “I don’t know if it was the exhaustion. We weren’t moving our feet. We just couldn’t get there.”

While the visiting Vikings controlled the opening set, Christian had its chances in the second and third sets.

The Knights owned a 21-20 lead near the end of the second set only to have JVC score the final five points to secure a two-set lead.

Christian made another strong attempt in the third set, leading 16-15. However, the Vikings outscored the Knights 9-1 to set up seven match points and the hosts never recovered.

“We found a way,” Wipf said. “Sometimes it looked ugly, but we still finished and it’s a win, nonetheless.”

Kaylie Robinson had eight kills, two aces, four set assists and a block to lead the victory.

Chloe Bosma topped the Knights with five kills, an ace, 23 digs and a block.

Setter Jolie Fogarty had the unique combination of not only leading Christian in set assists, but also finishing as one of the team’s top hitters on the night.

“I guess the other hitters were just kind of having a little rough night,” Fogarty said, “so Ali (Isakson) kind of sent it to me a little more.”

Fogarty, an eighth-grader, responded with four kills in addition to her eight assists.

She said a key was “just kind of watching the previous hits and watching where the open spots were.”

Powell was surprised to find out following the match that her setter was also one of the hitting leaders in the match.

“I’m very proud of her. She keeps moving,” Powell said. “She has great hands and she’s very athletic. She’ll be fun to see grow.”

Payton Skarin had three ace serves and Isakson finished with 29 digs.

Despite the setback, the Knights have won three of their last six matches. Fogarty said a key to the latest surge has been the team’s mental approach.

“It’s just really a lot of mental work,” Fogarty said, “and we just really have to have that mindset and get into it.”

Christian has as busy stretch of action ahead, playing at Herreid-Selby Area on Monday, at Leola-Frederick on Tuesday, and hosting Leola-Frederick on Thursday.

“I told the girls they just need to get some good rest this weekend,” Powell said, “and hopefully they do.”

Serving: James Valley Christian (Abri Zuccaro 19-19 2 aces, Kaylie Robinson 6-9 2 aces, Lily Hofer 11-13 1 ace); Aberdeen Christian 51-58 4 aces (Payton Skarin 8-11 3 aces, Chloe Bosma 9-10 1 ace).

Hitting: James Valley Christian (Robinson 30-35 8 kills, Regan Rink 25-29 4 kills, Alexa Goertz 16-17 4 kills); Aberdeen Christian 66-99 18 kills (Bosma 27-33 5 kills, Jolie Fogarty 4-5 4 kills).

Setting: James Valley Christian (Daril Frandsen 10 assists, Robinson 4); Aberdeen Christian 117-123 14 assists (Fogarty 94-100 8 assists).

Digs: James Valley Christian 99 (Colleen Wipf 27, Ashtyn Cronin 15, Jacey Wipf 12); Aberdeen Christian 71 (Alexis Isakson 25, Bosma 23).

Blocks: James Valley Christian (Robinson 1 solo, Cora Hofer 1 solo); Aberdeen Christian 1 solo 2 assists (Bosma 1 solo, Fogarty 1 assist).

Records: James Valley Christian 9-14; Aberdeen Christian 3-18.