Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly omitted Alivia Miller as a key contributor to the team. The story has been updated to reflect the change.

Aberdeen Central’s path to this week’s Class AA state volleyball tournament couldn’t have been much more dramatic.

The Golden Eagles (14-11) were three points away from elimination in their SoDak 16 match against Pierre before they rallied for the reverse sweep and the No. 8 seed in the tournament, which tips off Thursday in Rapid City.

“They had their back against the wall all night long, and they just kept battling,” said Central coach Jackie Bindenagel. “I was so proud of them when I walked out of that gym.”

Central’s reward for its efforts is just their second state tournament berth since 2017 and a rematch date with unbeaten and top-seeded Harrisburg.

“It’ll be a tough match,” Bindenagel said. “Harrisburg is very good. … But the pressure is not on us. If those kids just pick up where they left off on Thursday, we’ll be fine.”

Ironically, Harrisburg is the same opponent the Golden Eagles were playing when they lost senior outside hitter Grace Kuch to a season-ending injury.

And to be sure, the adjustment to life on the court without her has been rocky at times.

“It took some time,” Bindenagel said. “Mathematically, we knew what (Kuch) did every night with kills and blocks and things. So we were like, if every kid gets two or three more kills. But her presence on the court mattered too, and that was hard to replace.”

Eventually, however, the Golden Eagles found their stride, and with, literally, no time to spare.

“We just kept swinging and swinging,” Bindenagel said. “Those are things they hadn’t done before. Other times I felt like we’ve been afraid to make a mistake and (last Thursday) they finally just did it. You could see it in their eyes.”

Kuch went down with five regular-season matches left on the slate, which gave the Golden Eagles a chance to regroup.

“It just took some time for the kids to gain some confidence,” Bindenagel said.

Still, the task ahead is a tough one, but Bindenagel said her squad is up to the challenge with Lauryn Burckhard, Taryn Nieman, Ashley Wangler, Kenadi Withers and Alivia Miller leading the way up front. Ayrlie Waldo runs the offense from her setter position and Sawyer Bahr and Madison Miller create from the back row.

“I feel like we are solid at every position,” she said. “When everyone is playing well, I think we’re really tough to stop.”

Central and Harrisburg will take the court at 11 a.m. (MST) at the Summit Arena.