Staff photo by Ari Selvey Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop's Trinity Stearns sets up for a spike during a nonconference volleyball match against Nicollet at Nicollet High School on Monday.

NICOLLET — Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop got its first sweep of the season with a 25-17, 25-18, 25-18 victory over Nicollet on Monday night in a nonconference volleyball match at Nicollet High School.

Marti Jacobson and Trinity Stearns each had eight kills in the match for GFW (6-9), with Stearns getting four blocks and Jacobson getting three blocks. Jenna Schweiss had 15 digs, three blocks and two aces for the Thunderbirds, and Katelyn Beranek had eight set assists.

GFW head coach Ima Mages said that the team was aggressive at the net with their kills and blocks, leading to their success.

“Our goal today was to be more consistent and have the mindset of a will to win,” Mages said. “It took all efforts. Some of our strongest games are when we can take our opponents out at the net because we can put up a strong block. That includes closing our block, communicating and being quick along the net.”

Leah Bode led the Raiders with seven kills and five digs, while Savannah Klockziem had five kills. Mia Lambrecht had 13 set assists and four aces for Nicollet.

GFW won the first set handily 25-17, but the second set started off close, with the teams tied early on at 11-11. GFW carved out a 19-16 lead before going on a 6-2 run, capitalized with an ace serve by Taylor Schafer, to win Set 2.

GFW jumped out to an early lead in Set 3, going up 9-4 to force a timeout. Nicollet went on a quick 3-0 run, highlighted by an ace by Bode that cut the lead to 9-7, but GFW responded by going on a 4-0 run of its own to go up 13-7. Nicollet battled back and tied the game at 16 on an ace by Kamryn Truebenbach, and the teams traded a pair of points before GFW sealed the set with a 7-0 run and a pair of kills by Stearns and one by Ali Burns.

Mages said that Tuesday’s match at Lester Prairie would be a good test of the team’s capabilities in section play.

“That’s already an important game,” Mages said. “We need to play consistently, not only in the front row, but in the back row. We need to be able to read and move quickly at all times. We need to constantly be smart at the front row. We need to be aggressive, but we need to be able to put the ball in play.”

Nicollet (1-12) travels to Madelia on Tuesday for a Valley Conference match.