The Faulkton Trojans set the tone early and pulled away late to claim a non-conference volleyball win over Aberdeen Roncalli Monday night.

Faulkton played with the lead most of the evening on the way to a 25-20, 25-22, 19-25, 25-14 victory at Roncalli Gym.

“We knew we’d have to come out and take control early, and as long as we did that we knew we could play with them,” said Faulkton coach Mallory Schlechter. “I know they have a great record and I think they’re a very good team, but I think we just have a lot of options on our side and we aren’t afraid to use all of them.”

The Trojans bolted out a 13-3 advantage in the opening set and the Cavaliers were never able to fully recover.

“I don’t think that we were expecting them to come out that strong,” said Roncalli’s Faith Danielson. “It’s hard to play when it was clear that our energy wasn’t there tonight. It’s hard when they get a really big lead and we’re trying to catch up.”

A quick start can be important when playing a quality foe on the road and Faulkton took advantage of that from the opening serve.

“Momentum is a huge thing in volleyball,” said Faulkton’s Addison Melius, “so having the momentum on our side is huge.”

The second set was tight the whole way, but the visitors were able to pull away from a 21-21 tie to secure a two-set advantage. Melius had two kills among the final three points to finish off the set.

The Cavaliers regrouped in the third set and led the entire way, although Faulkton stayed close and trailed 18-17 before Roncalli used a 7-2 surge at the finish. Jaidyn Feickert served up a pair of aces and Rylee Voeller had two kills to fuel the run.

Whatever momentum Roncalli had quickly disappeared in the fourth set as Faulkton took control. Melius was unstoppable with 10 kills, including three in the final five points to ice the victory.

“She’s able to find that corner ball from the outside,” said Roncalli coach Mandy Smid, “and then also switch it up and swing power.”

Melius, who finished with 25 kills, used a variety of swings to keep the Cavaliers off balance.

“It’s really important to switch it up,” Melius said, “keep the defense on their toes.”

The senior standout had plenty of help as Faulkton kept the pressure on Roncalli most of the match.

“They definitely were setting the tone for the match,” Smid said, “making us scramble a little bit, making us try to play aggressive and out of system.”

Carley Cotton contributed 15 kills to the Faulkton total of 57 kills on the night, with Melius setting the pace.

“Both offensively and defensively, she’s one of our top ones,” Schlechter said of Melius. “Then you mix Carley Cotton in there. She does a little bit of everything. Kelli Stoecker throws in shots every now and then and Jaymi Senn. We just kind of have options.”

Add it all together and the Trojans, now 20-8, were able to hand Roncalli just its fifth setback of the season.

“They’re a solid team, but we just kept pushing through,” Melius said. “Even through long rallies when we made mistakes, we just made sure to come back stronger the next ball.”

Ava Hanson topped the Cavaliers with nine kills and McKenna O’Keefe followed with eight. Roncalli finished with 42 kills, but was denied many more because of the backrow defense of the Trojans.

“It’s kind of like basketball. Defense wins volleyball games, too,” Schlechter said. “We want to be that annoying, relentless team that just never lets the ball hit the floor. That’s what we work on and that’s what we expect when we step out here every night.”

Roncalli, 16-5, plays at Milbank Area tonight in another key contest as the Cavaliers battle for seed points with the playoffs just two weeks away.

“Energy is really big I think at this point in the season,” Danielson said. “We can’t get down on ourselves or anything like that. We’re really excited to play Milbank (Tuesday). It will be a good game.”

Serving: Faulkton 84-93 1 ace (Micah Martinmaas 31-32, Carley Cotton 13-14); Aberdeen Roncalli 79-83 6 aces (Jaidyn Feickert 14-15 3 aces).

Hitting: Faulkton 162-171 57 kills (Addison Melius 74-76 25 kills, Cotton 37-40 15 kills); Aberdeen Roncalli 167-191 42 kills (Ava Hanson 30-35 9 kills, McKenna O’Keefe 29-35 8 kills).

Setting: Faulkton 169-169 55 assists (Martinmaas 66-66 28 assists, Tegan Baloun 78-78 22 assists); Aberdeen Roncalli 182-184 36 assists (Faith Danielson 58-59 18 assists, Maddie Huber 104-105 15 assists).

Digs: Faulkton 90 (Cotton 32, Anna Aesoph 18, Melius 17) ; Aberdeen Roncalli 112 (Camryn Bain 28, O’Keefe 24).

Blocks: Faulkton 3 solo 4 assists (Kelli Stoecker 3 solo 2 assists); Aberdeen Roncalli 1 solo 8 assists (Huber 1 solo 2 assists, Hanson 2 assists, Rylee Voeller 2 assists).

Records: Faulkton 20-8; Aberdeen Roncalli 16-5.