The Aberdeen Christian Knights gave it their best shot, but came up short.

The Knights fell in a 25-20, 25-18, 25-15 straight set loss to Herreid-Selby Area in non-conference volleyball action on Monday night at the Christian gym.

It marked the second time this season that HSA defeated the Knights.

Christian coach Sara Powell said the previous match against the Wolverines gave her team an idea of what to expect heading into the rematch.

“I think overall (we) played pretty well,” Powell said. “We played them in the Ipswich tournament before, so we kind of knew what to expect with them. We knew they had a good middle hitter and outside hitter. They’ve got some strong hitters and they can block, so we knew we had to be ready for that and cover.”

Herreid-Selby Area coach Maria Sandmeier said the team focused on its offense heading into the match.

“We’ve just been working on more of our offense, moving the ball around a little bit, trying to find holes in their defense,” Sandmeier said. “I don’t think we played our greatest game, but we pulled through the adversity of the game.”

Both squads duked it out in a tight opening set before the Wolverines took the set on a late surge, scoring the final four points to pull away from a one-point lead.

Christian senior outside hitter Chloe Bosma said the team had its ups and downs during the match.

“We struggled to get into a groove tonight,” Bosma said. “But, overall, I think we did good rallying back-and-forth. We just couldn’t finish.”

Sandmeier said the Wolverines’ serving game improved throughout the contest, allowing them to pull away in each set.

“I really think our serve started getting more aggressive as the game went on,” Sandmeier said. “But it almost seemed like all three sets we didn’t get really comfortable playing until we got to like 15-15, and then we started pulling away with an aggressive serve and getting more confident back there. That’s kind of what started that momentum.”

One player the Wolverines had trouble with throughout the match was Bosma. The senior finished with a team-high six kills, and wanted to aim for the holes in the Wolverines defense.

“I saw that the deep line was open on my side, so I just tried to aim there and they just couldn’t stop me,” Bosma said. “Once they did, I just tried to go cross court a little bit, but overall, I think the line was open most of the night.”

Despite Bosma’s efforts, the Knights had a tough time dealing with Herreid-Selby Area’s size on the front line, as Jada Rossow and Jordyn Rossow, both six-footers, made kills difficult to come by.

“It was hard,” Bosma said. “That’s also why I went line because I had a shorter blocker on line rather than cross since they were pretty tall middles, but overall, I just tried to adjust and go over the block.”

Sandmeier said the Rossows’ height gives the Wolverines an advantage both offensively and defensively.

“We have some extra block touches, as long as our timing is good,” Sandmeier said. “It’s nice to get those touches even if it comes back on our side. It’s just to slow the ball down, but then offensively, Jordyn Rossow had a really good game. With some height, she might have that advantage with a longer reach.”

Christian jumped out to an early lead in set two before Herreid-Selby Area took over and eventually won the set. Powell said errors made it difficult to hold onto the lead.

“I think that comes with inexperience with a young team,” Powell said.

Herreid-Selby Area took firm control of set three and pulled away late to clinch the sweep. The Wolverines will now look to face off against Faulkton tonight.

“It’s going to be a good game tomorrow,” Sandmeier said of today’s match. “We’ll have to come prepared and ready to turn that defense into offensive plays.”

Powell said the Knights will need to continue to improve in several areas before their next match.

“Definitely hitting,” Powell said. “That’s just something that we need to stay consistent in all the time, and just being strong with our serve receive, and being ready and moving.”

Serving: Aberdeen Christian 43-54 4 aces (Sawyer Schwan 10-14 2 aces, Alexis Isakson 8-8 1 ace).

Hitting: Aberdeen Christian 74-92 15 kills (Chloe Bosma 27-30 6 kills, Jolie Fogarty 17-18 5 kills, Payton Skarin 12-13 2 aces).

Setting: Aberdeen Christian 81-83 16 assists (Schwan 30-30 9 assists, Jolie Fogarty 29-30 6 assists).

Digs: Aberdeen Christian 56 digs (Isakson 20 digs, Jolie Fogarty 13 digs, Skarin 9 digs).

Blocks: Aberdeen Christian 3 blocks (Ari Johnson 2 blocks, Bosma 1 block, Jolie Fogarty 1 block).

Records: Herreid-Selby Area 14-5; Aberdeen Christian 9-17.

Herreid-Selby Area stats not reported