REDFIELD – The names change, but the success remains the same for the Warner Monarchs.

Warner earned yet another trip to the State B Volleyball Tournament, its eighth consecutive berth, following a sweep over Faulkton Tuesday night. The Monarchs set the tone early and grabbed a 25-12, 25-10, 25-14 SoDak 16 victory.

“We played extremely well tonight,” said Warner coach Kari Jung. “I was proud of the energy.”

Warner, which finished runner-up a year ago, features some new starters this season, however they have been up to the challenge in racking up a 31-4 overall record.

“This group of kids have wanted to prove all the naysayers wrong when they said we weren’t going to be so good this year,” Jung said. “We lost a some good seniors and they just wanted to prove that you know what, we can still play volleyball. I’m so proud of them. Our younger kids stepped up. They didn’t look like they were nervous tonight.”

In fact, the Monarchs looked anything but nervous, bolting out to a 6-0 lead to start the match and setting the tone for the entire match.

“This isn’t a team you can really spot points for. We knew it was going to be a battle after that,” said Faulkton coach Mallory Schlechter. “The girls continued to work hard. They kept diving on the floor. …. Tonight just wasn’t our night and it didn’t fall our way.”

While the Warner lineup features some underclassmen, the Monarchs return a pair of key members from last year’s squad in Kyleigh Schopp and MaKenna Leidholt. They are not only key hitters for the team, but also provide strong leadership.

“Me and Kyleigh, being from last year, just helping support them when they make a mistake,” Leidholt said, “telling them that they’re doing great, and they truly are.”

After racing through the opening set, the Monarchs found themselves in a tight battle in the second, leading just 12-9 before Jordyn Jensen reeled off a string of serves that pushed the Warner advantage to 22-9.

“It’s not that we’re shooting for aces every time,” Jung said, “but she’s trying to take them out of system, so they can’t attack well.”

Warner bolted out to a 13-1 cushion in the third set and eventually finished off the sweep.

Leidholt said the quick start in the opening set was important because it gave the Monarchs a jolt of momentum.

“We wanted to keep it in three sets,” Leidholt said. “We didn’t really want to head to five, and we wanted to keep the energy on our side more, so they couldn’t take a set from us.”

With active blockers in the front row, and defenders scrambling in the back, putting a ball down against the Monarchs can be a difficult task.

“They’re very relentless and you’ve got to give them a lot of credit for that, because they don’t let balls hit the floor,” Schlechter said. “They’ve got big blockers up front, so I mean, it’s a double battle there.”

One of the people that did find some success at net for Faulkton was senior Jaymi Senn, who finished with five kills.

“I’ve been playing varsity for a while and I just put it to what I know,” Senn said, “and I stayed confident and I didn’t let anything get in my head or anything get in the way of my hitting.”

Schopp powered the Warner attack with 13 kills, Jaycee Jung followed with 11, and Leidholt finished with 10, many coming on attacks to the left side of the court.

“She really paid attention when we talked about the game plan,” Jung said of Leidholt. “She found that left sideline over there. It wasn’t all power, but she found it, and she did a great job.”

Carley Cotton finished with six kills to lead Faulkton.

In the end, both sides felt like they had something to prove this season and each made its point throughout the year.

The Trojans were seeded fourth in Region 6B and came within a match of making it back to the state tournament.

“We didn’t win maybe as many games as we would have liked to, but we still really showed what we can do,” Schlechter said. “We’re just happy to even be here, because I don’t think a lot of people would have put us here in this moment.”

Senn said she’ll remember all of the support she received from coaches and teammates during her career with the Trojans.

“I’ll remember how much my coaches were always there for me and encouraged me to always do my best,” Senn said, “and how much my teammates lifted me up through everything.”

And while Faulkton came up short on Tuesday night, Senn noted how the Trojans surprised many people this season.

“We’ve had a great year,” Senn said. “A lot of people have underestimated us this year and a lot of teams would kill to be this far.”

Warner enters the state tournament as the second seed and will face Colman-Egan in the opening round at 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 21 at the Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls.

Like the Trojans, the Monarchs have enjoyed proving people wrong this year.

“We’re having more of a comeback season this year, being more of the underdogs,” Leidholt said, “not many people thinking that we’d be the team that we were last year, so it’s a motivation to go into this state tournament.”

Serving: Faulkton 36-39 2 aces (Anika Mueller 8-8 1 ace, Claire Cotton 8-8 1 ace); Warner 67-73 5 aces (Jordyn Jensen 23-23 3 aces, Libby Scepaniak 20-20 1 ace).

Hitting: Faulkton 85-97 12 kills (Carley Cotton 34-39 6 kills, Jaymi Senn 21-22 5 kills); Warner 109-109 44 kills (Kyleigh Schopp 22-24 13 kills, Jaycee Jung 24-26 10 kills, MaKenna Leidholt 24-29 9 kills).

Setting: Faulkton 96-96 11 assists (Claire Cotton 73-73 10 assists); Warner 110-110 42 assists (Reagan Wood 50-50 21 assists, Scepaniak 43-43 17 assists).

Digs: Faulkton 50 (Presleigh Martinmaas 15, Mueller 11); Warner 61 (Jensen 15, Haleigh Holt 14, Jung 13).

Blocks: Faulkton 2 assists (Martinmaas 1, Maci Schulz 1); Warner 1 solo 10 assists (Schopp 1 solo 3 assists, Miah Leidholt 3 assists).

Records: Faulkton 15-17; Warner 31-4.