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Tigers Top WCA in Four Sets

By Craig Olson, 10/16/19, 12:00AM CDT

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Rothsay played West Central Area Tuesday night in Rothsay with the Tigers winning in four sets (28-26, 25-20, 17-25, 25-12).

“The Tigers had a much better night of playing as a team,” said Head Coach Kim Braaten. “We were able to work together and take care of the ball all around. Our serving and passing greatly improved which was a huge game changer from last night’s game. It’s a great feeling leaving the gym tonight knowing that we reflected and were purposeful in our play. Summer Wigdahl (1 ace, 14 digs, 100% serving) and Jenna Fabre (14 kills, 22 digs, 1 block) really controlled passing tonight which led to the great successes to our setting and attacking. Jayna Gronewold (9 kills, 16 digs, 33 set assists, 2 aces) was all over the place and leading our team to where we needed it most. Kenadi Carslrud (18 kills, 8 digs, 6 blocks, 5 aces) and Jenna Fabre were very powerful offensively for the Tigers. Kenadi Carlsrud had a great game and controlled the net both defensively and offensively. Overall, every single athlete on our team did a great job and represented our program well tonight.”

Lilly Wheelright (6 kills, 7 digs, 1 block, 6 aces), Grace Lider (3 kills, 2 digs, 2 blocks) and Madison Tillman (3 kills, 9 digs, 3 blocks, 1 assist, 1 ace) also contributed.

“Rothsay’s Game was a lot quicker than we have seen in a while,” said West Central Area Head Coach Missy Foslien.  “They run a faster offense than we are used to and we struggled getting stopped on defense and ready to play the ball.  Their setter was very smart and quick, she read the floor well and hit spots that we had no answer for.  Our girls were up again in the first game, but we got stuck at 23 and could not finish.  Had we clinched the first game I think our night would have ended differently.  The second set the Tigers had the momentum.  We came back from a 1-9 deficit and played very steady but again just couldn’t pull out a win.  By the third set our girls played more aggressively, we passed better and were able to take care of the ball.  What happens from one game to the next is often a mystery, we should’ve had them down on their luck but we just didn’t come out aggressive, made some hitting errors early on, and serve receive was rough.”

Leaders for the lady Knights were Hailey Bennett (19/19 serving, 3 aces, 11 set assists, 19 digs), Ellie Herman (16/16 serving, 2 aces, 11 digs, 7 kills), Kaleigh Anderson (19 set assists, 11 digs), Kaitlyn Hansen (16 digs), Kaylyn Ulrich (11 digs), Morgan Stark (11 digs, 6 kills) and Liz Rustan (12 kills, 2 blocks). 

“Next week is the start of playoffs,” said Coach Foslien. “We hope to come together and make a run before we are done.   With the loss of a game versus Parkers Prairie due to the schedule change for Homecoming, we have a couple practices and a scrimmage lined up for Thursday, October 17 at Lac Qui Parle Valley.  Our first playoff game is Monday, October 21.  We hope that our fans come out to support us!”