Aberdeen Roncalli set the pace early, but Northwestern took over late Tuesday night at Roncalli Gym.

The third-rated Class B Wildcats dropped the opening set before rallying for a 21-25, 25-17, 25-21, 25-18 non-conference volleyball victory.

“Northwestern just has such a good history, just a winning history,” said Roncalli coach Leesa Ware, “and they’re tough, they’re very, very tough.”

The Wildcats struggled to start the match, but then cleaned up a few things as the night wore on.

“We had 12 attack errors the first set,” said Northwestern coach Nora Groft. “I asked them to take better care of the ball and be mindful of their errors, and they reduced it to six attack errors in the second set, and then only seven errors total the third.”

After leveling the match at a set apiece, Northwestern led 20-16 in the third set before the Cavaliers fought back and evened the score a 21-21. Groft called a timeout and her players responded with four straight points to close out the set and help set the tone for the remainder of the match.

“In the third set, I told them to serve aggressively to keep them out of system,” Groft said, “and don’t interrupt them when they’re making mistakes.”

Ware said the experienced Wildcats were able to locate openings in the Roncalli defense with their aggressive serving.

“The found all of our holes,” Ware said. “They’re serving was aggressive.”

The Wildcats tried to dictate play from the service line to prevent the Cavaliers’ offense from setting up.

“Our serve receive was a little bit lacking,” Ware said, “just because if you can’t get a good pass, you can’t get a good set and of course we can’t run what we want to run, and I think that they really took advantage of that.”

Northwestern’s goal was to not let Roncalli get going offensively and to keep the Cavaliers from find a rhythm throughout the match.

“Our game plan was to keep them out of system so Ava Hanson couldn’t attack the middle,” Groft said. “The match was ugly, but they did exactly what I asked them to do.”

Northwestern, which did not lose a single player off of last year’s squad, relied on its experience to get back on track after a slow start.

“We’re a little older and more composed,” Groft said. “Last year’s team would have had a harder time coming back from that first set. Roncalli did well.”

Ashley Haven powered the Wildcats with 18 kills. Breelyn Sattler contributed 10 and Taylor Vetter added nine.

Ella Boekelheide finished with 41 set assists to go along with two aces, and 19 digs.

McKenna O’Keefe led Roncalli with eight kills and 16 digs, while Hanson contributed six kills, four aces and 15 digs. Rylee Voeller also had six kills.

Ware was pleased with her team’s effort despite the setback.

“I really thought that the girls played well. … We didn’t just roll over,” Ware said. “The sets were close.”

Northwestern hosts Wolsey-Wessington on Thursday, while Roncalli travels to Redfield.

Serving: Northwestern 90-95 aces (Ella Boekelheide 13-14 2 aces, Payton Grandpre 14-14 1 ace, Taylor Vetter 16-16 1 ace); Aberdeen Roncalli 69-78 5 aces (Ava Hanson 16-17 4 aces, McKenna O’Keefe 12-12 1 ace).

Hitting: Northwestern 148-176 52 kills (Ashley Haven 48-59 18 kills, Breelyn Satter 19-21 10 kills, Vetter 27-33 9 kills); Aberdeen Roncalli 143-166 30 kills (O’Keefe 33-39 8 kills, Hanson 19-27 6 kills, Rylee Voeller 20-23 6 kills).

Setting: Northwestern 165-167 48 assists (Boekelheide 131-132 41 assists, Grandpre 20-20 3 assists); Aberdeen Roncalli 150-150 24 assists (Maddie Huber (97-99 21 assists).

Digs: Northwestern 82 (Tara Blachford 29, Boekelheide 19, Vetter 17); Aberdeen Roncalli 64 (O’Keefe 16, Hanson 15).

Blocks: Northwestern (Haven 1 assist, Grandpre 1 assist); Aberdeen Roncalli 1 solo 6 assists (Hanson 4 assists, Voeller 1 solo).