In pool play the Trojans beat Norwood Young America 25-20, 25-13, lost to Jackson Country Central 25-18, 25-12 and fell to Concordia Academy 25-13, 25-14.  The results advanced them into the Bronze Division where they beat Waterville-Elysian-Morristown 25-16, 25-22 and lost to Mounds Park Academy 25-16, 25-22.

“We had a tough pool to kick off the tournament,” commented Barnesville Head Coach Megan Askegaard.  “You see some great competition at tournaments like this.  It’s a great test early on to see how we can match up against some of the top teams in the state.  We are definitely able to compete at the highest level with some of the best teams.  We had a great tournament and definitely got better on the court.  Class AA has some extremely tough competition.  We saw some tough servers in all matches.  In the matches we lost we had a hard time getting out of serve receive against some teams who came with a difficult first ball.  Our defense improved once we saw the level of play that we were up against.  We couldn’t take any breaks on defense and had to be anticipating where the ball was coming at all times.  It is a great tournament that allows us to see some great volleyball competition.”

The lady Trojans were led by Emily Bredman (32 kills, 3 blocks), Emily Smith (21 kills, 6 blocks, 10 digs, 2 ace serves), Anna Stanford (14 kills, 2 blocks, 31 digs, 4 aces), Lexi Bolgrean 12 kills, 33 digs), Sydney Strand (41 digs, 1 ace), Kenzie Skogen (25 digs, 2 aces), Katie Newell (5 kills, 1 ace, 2 blocks, 71 set assists, 17 digs) and Lauren Halverson (8 kills, 3 blocks, 5 digs).