Faulkton forced Aberdeen Christian into one hole after another, and eventually the Knights were unable to climb out of the final one Thursday night at the Christian School Gym.

The Trojans came up big when it mattered most on the way to a 25-19, 20-25, 21-25, 25-20, 15-7 Lake Region Conference volleyball win over Christian.

“We tell them that in every timeout. Stop digging yourself a hole,” said Christian coach Sara Powell. “Then we talk about in practice. We even practice it, getting ourselves out of a hole and not getting ourselves in a hole. It’s so frustrating.”

In match that had many momentum swings, it was Faulkton that caught the last wave of momentum just in time to collect the victory.

“We run on momentum, so we got to get out good,” said Faulkton senior Carley Cotton. “When we’re out good, we’re rolling. There’s no stopping us when we’re out good.”

The Trojans definitely got out good in the fifth set, never trailing on the way to closing out the match.

It appeared Faulkton would own a 2-1 set lead after taking a 19-12 lead in the third after the two teams split the first two sets. However, Sophie Glynn stepped up to the service line and propelled the Knights into the lead.

“I just kind of channel stuff, like frustration from earlier in the set,” Glynn said, “and then you kind of put that into your serves and you just kind of go for it.”

While the sophomore did not have an ace during that surge, she gave the Knights a huge jolt of momentum, which allowed them to take the set.

“She has a great serve. She can spot serve really nice and she can mix things up,” Powell said. “She can usually come in as a clutch and get it done, which is nice.”

The Trojans were far from finished, however. They were able to take control in the middle of the fourth set to level the match. Cotton, who racked up match-high totals of five aces and 24 kills, led the way.

“We came into the huddle and everybody knew, everybody knew,” Cotton said. “It was time to put the hammer down that fourth set and get that fifth set back.”

Soon, the Trojans were the ones that had a bounce in their step and playing with confidence after overcoming adversity in that third set.

“We always talk about focusing on the good. We got to let stuff like that go, because the more we dwell on it the worse its going to get,” said Faulkton coach Mallory Schlechter. “So we talk a lot about the score is 0-0. Don’t look at the score, just what can we do better in this next play to play our best? That’s what they did. They kept coming back every time.”

The Trojans are in a battle for postseason playoff positioning, so picking up a road win against a winning team was important for them.

“Going into postseason, these games are the ones we have to win,” Cotton said. “This is a big one, especially homecoming. It’s a good end.”

Christian, which slipped to 12-8 on the season, has been in its share of close matches this season. Glynn said the team plays better against quality competition.

“It seems when we play harder teams, we seem to play a little better,” Glynn said. “It’s so much easier to get energy when you’re playing a harder team.”

Payton Skarin and Jolie Fogarty each had 11 kills to lead the Knights.

Faulkton has been on the cusp of pulling out some big matches this season, taking sets off of unbeaten Hitchcock-Tulare and once-beaten Miller, so Thursday’s outcome was a welcome result for the Trojans.

“It’s one of the better ones for sure,” Schlechter said of the victory. “We’ve stolen sets from Tulare and Miller and some of those, like those feel pretty good, so it’s finally nice to come out on the winning end.”

The Knights will now gear up to host another quality foe when they host fifth-rated Northwestern on Tuesday.

“I told the girls in the locker room tonight, we can sit there and coach them and tell them what they need to do, but in the end they have to be the ones to do it and put it all together,” Powell said. “I know they have it, so they’ll get there.”

Serving: Faulkton 91-105 13 aces (Carley Cotton 18-19 5 aces, Anna Aesoph 14-16 2 aces); Aberdeen Christian (Brynn Powell 1 ace, Ari Johnson 1 ace, Sawyer Schwan 1 ace, Payton Skarin 1).

Hitting: Faulkton 145-162 47 kills (Cotton 24 kills, Anika Mueller 38-41 12 kills); Aberdeen Christian (Skarin 11 kills, Jolie Fogarty 11 kills, Johnson 7 kills).

Setting: Faulkton 157-157 46 assists (Claire Cotton 133-133 42 assists); Aberdeen Christian (Schwan 34 assists).

Digs: Faulkton 98 (Carley Cotton 32, Aesoph 22, Mueller 22); Aberdeen Christian (Alexis Isakson 35, Fogarty 17).

Blocks: Faulkton 2 solo (Jaymi Senn 2); Aberdeen Christian (Johnson 3 solo 3 assists, Sophia Eichler 4 solo).

Records: Faulkton 8-10; Aberdeen Christian 12-8.