“Last night was a great match by both teams,” observed Barnesville Head Coach Megan Askegaard. “WDC has a powerful middle who attacks the ball well and aggressively on the net. We are continuing to improve and play great defense. Our defense is really what keeps us going and gives us that added spark that we need to get things going on our end. We passed the ball well on Serve Receive and that opened up opportunities for our hitters. I definitely saw an improvement on our blocking tonight as we were able to shut down their big hitters. Our defense stepped up and dug some hard attacks.”

Leaders for the Trojans were Sam Passa (11 kills, 3 block assists, 15 digs, 9/9 serving, 1 ace), Emily Bredman (11 kills, 3 block assists), Jordan Tschumperlin (5 kills, 3 solo blocks, 3 block assists, 16/18 serving, 1 ace), Emily Condon (22 digs), Lexi Bolgrean (3 kills, 24/24 serving, 5 aces, 21 digs), Katie Newell (13 set assists, 18/18 serving, 3 aces) and Kim Maesse (15 set assists, 13 digs, 14/14 serving).

“Sam attacked the outside relentlessly tonight and really found the holes in their defense. Emily did an outstanding job in the middle attacking the backcourt against a big WDC block. Emily and Lexi were all over the floor tonight picking up hard hit balls as well as reading the tips that were coming to the middle of our court. Lauren Halverson was up against their big attacker and she and Jordan closed the block against her many times giving us an easier time on defense. Tonight was an amazing team effort as we honored our 3 seniors before the match. Emerson Biewer came in off the bench to score the final 2 points of the 4th set against the Wolverines.”

Barnesville (17-7)will play at Sebeka on Tuesday night, while Wadena-Deer Creek (12-5) goes to Pillager on Thursday night.