Wanting to set the tone early on its home court Tuesday, Sterling seized control and never let go against Freeport in their Class 3A Sterling Regional semifinal.

The Golden Warriors were efficient and balanced in their offensive attack, and their defense also played well in a 25-10, 25-16 victory over the Pretzels at Musgrove Fieldhouse.

“Our start was impressive,” Sterling’s Nia Harris said. “Efficiency was our biggest thing; we wanted to start off stronger in the postseason than how we started our season, and I think that’s what really motivated us.”

Fourth-seeded Sterling (19-15) advances to take on top-seeded Morris for the regional title on Thursday. Morris moved on with a 25-13, 25-19 win over eight-seeded Plano.

The Warriors never trailed in the first set, as Madison Birdsley served seven straight points to open the match. A pair of kills by Harris made it 12-5, then she reeled off four straight points as Megan Stutzke and Alasia Harris Rascon both ripped kills and Harris served an ace for a 17-6 lead. A kill by Kasey Weeks sent Birdsley back to the service line for the final four-point run, with kills from Harris Rascon and Weeks.

“Once you get in a groove, it really gets easier as it goes,” Birdsley said about the service run. “You have your team supporting you, and that really helps. It sets a nice base to start the game off strong.”

“We’ve worked a lot on serves in practice, so I think coming into the postseason, it’s something that we needed, because we tend to hold ourselves back if we make a lot of early mistakes,” Harris Rascon added. “I think getting a service run that gets us the lead really gets our energy up and gets us fired up for whatever’s next.”

Freeport (10-22) grabbed the lead early in the second set, but the Warriors turned things around. Trailing 8-5 after three errors in a four-point span, Harris smashed a kill and Brylee Brady served an ace.

Sterling then pulled away. A 10-9 lead turned into a 20-9 margin on a service run by Harris, who had two aces in the spurt as the Warriors also got a kill and a block from Stutzke. Kills by Harris Rascon, Weeks and Harris down the stretch staved off any Freeport comeback attempt.

“I think the biggest thing was we’re not ready for our season to end. We wanted to continue it, so we knew we had to finish the match. In order to not let them get to a third set and give them a chance, we had to push through,” Harris said. “Now we need to carry everything over [to the final], and then limit some of the errors that we had. I think overall, our energy was good and we should carry all of that over.”

Sterling spread out the attack, and whomever Birdsley (10 assists, 12 points, 6 digs) and Sydney Griffin (9 assists) set the ball to, the Warriors terminated consistently. Birdsley credited good serve receive and passing for making things run smoothly.

“The back row was phenomenal. I’m really thankful for them, they make my job a lot easier,” Birdsley said, “and [on offense] it feels amazing to know I can trust my team so much that no matter who I set it to, they’ll carry us and put it down.”

Weeks had eight kills, Harris Rascon added seven, Harris spiked six to go with eight digs, 13 points and three aces, and Stutzke finished with four kills and a block. Brady served for five points, and libero Grace Springman chipped in four digs and two assists.

“I think this is the first game in a long time that we’ve actually had everyone do something to contribute and play a part for the team point-wise and energy-wise,” Harris Rascon said. “It was awesome to see.”

Mackenzee Matz led Freeport with three kills and a block, Hailee Klever added two kills and a block, Alexis Lingle dished five assists, and Ava Almasy added four assists, three points and two aces.

“We’re a team that doesn’t quit. We’re very scrappy, we go after it. I’m very proud of the effort the girls played with tonight,” Freeport coach Jerry Teresi said. “We are very young – we lose three seniors, and they will be missed – but for the most part, we’re coming back next year very strong. It was spectacular for the younger ones to gain some experience, and hopefully they take this offseason and they continue to grow and develop individually and as a team.”