Wolsey-Wessington used a full team effort to win its fifth straight match in a sweep over Aberdeen Christian Thursday night at the Christian School Gym

The Warbirds took the first two sets 25-15 and 25-14 and won on extra points 28-26 in the third set of the non-conference match.

The Knights started off the night with mistakes and hitting errors that forced them to play from behind.

“Errors have been killing us. A couple of our girls haven’t been feeling good, and I’m not going to say that’s what happened,” said Aberdeen Christian coach Sara Powell. “The errors definitely played a huge role in it.”

The Warbirds were on the attack early and often. They took the lead on the first point of the night, and and led for the rest of the first set. Christian started off hot in set two securing the first four points, before Wolsey-Wessington bounced back with its big hitters, taking a lead on the eighth point and not relinquishing it.

Powell knew that the Warbirds had big hitters, so her squad tried to combat that with big hits of its own, which unfortunately kicked in a little too late for the Knights.

Wolsey-Wessington was able to take advantage of Christian tips throughout the match. Powell noted that her players needed to be more aggressive against the Warbirds.

“They have a good team, they have some good hitters. We kind of got in a tipping game,” said Powell. “We told them that before even going into the game, like you got to go in swinging.”

On the other side of the net, Wolsey-Wessington coach Lindy Uttecht has a squad with a balanced front how attack and uses that advantage.

“We got some very big hitters out there, and so that’s the thing. We don’t want to tip, we don’t want to push. We want to hit as much as we can,” said Uttecht. “I feel like we can spread the wealth a little bit. We don’t have to just rely on one girl or two girls. I feel like we’ve got girls that can play any position. They’re very versatile and they can get a kill any night.”

Junior Libero for the Knights, Alexis Isakson, understood the task ahead of her and the challenge that comes with facing the multiple hitters of Wolsey-Wessington. She knew that she could rely on her blockers to help cover the court.

“You just got to be confident,” Isakson said, “and also trust your blockers that they’re going to help you out.”

Down two sets, the Knights found their rhythm and attacked the net in the tight third set, eventually fighting off four match points, before falling in extra points. The Knights had a pair of net violations at the end of final set which did not help their cause.

“They want to be aggressive, but you got to play smart,” Powell said. “Errors definitely killed us tonight.”

The Knights had momentum on their side for a while in the third set before Uttecht called a time out to regroup her players.

“They got a little shaken. We got the timeout called and we calmed them down, and once they went back out there, they pulled it together,” said Uttecht. “It’s one point at a time, and when we make a mistake, we got to shake it off and get ready for the next one and not let it keep festering all night.”

Wolsey-Wessington senior Samara Clemente was aggressive at the net collecting 11 kills and three solo blocks, much of those coming in the third set, allowing the Warbirds to smile following the match.

“It wasn’t just me, it was our whole team. I feel like a lot of us did kind of step up, but that’s kind of what you got to do when you’re kind of getting down and you want to finish that game,” said Clemente. “Our team has a thing where we say ‘Always smile.’ And you always smile. Always keep a good mood, keep everybody up.”

Christian competes at the Ipswich Invitational on Saturday, before hosting Aberdeen Roncalli on Monday.

Serving: Aberdeen Christian (Sophie Glynn 2 aces, Sawyer Schwan 1 ace); Wolsey-Wessington (Taylor Eichstadt 14-15 2 aces, Shae Uttecht 16-16 1 ace).

Hitting: Aberdeen Christian (Arianna Johnson 8 kills, Payton Skarin 8 kills, Jolie Fogarty 6 kills); Wolsey-Wessington (Samara Clemente 11 kills, Timber Haeder 8 kills, Roxy Glanzer 8 kills).

Setting: Aberdeen Christian (Schwan 19 assists); Wolsey-Wessington (Kendal Uttecht 32 assists).

Digs: Aberdeen Christian (Isakson 23, Schwan 14); Wolsey-Wessington (S. Uttecht 26, Haeder 11).

Blocks: Aberdeen Christian (Johnson 3 solo 2 assisted, Fogarty 1 assisted, Glynn 1 assisted); Wolsey-Wessington (Clemente 3 solo, Haeder 2 solo).

Records: Aberdeen Christian 6-4; Wolsey-Wessington 7-2.