“We knew going into Battle Lake that they were a team that runs through Grace VanErp,” said Brandon-Evansville Head Coach Kelly Olson.  “She does a lot of great things for that team, and we needed to make sure we did a better job tracking her movements so we could hopefully slow her down a bit.  I knew we could not stop her, she is too good, but if we slowed her down we felt we could win the match.  She had 6 kills that first set and only 2 each of the next 2 sets.  The fact we kept her from dominating the match, like she did in our first matchup, was the difference in the end.  Along with what we did with Grace, on our side of the net we served the ball very well.  95% with 12 aces in 3 sets is right where we needed to be.  We were good with the ball most of the time and when we were in system we looked good.  We hit .175 as a team for the match and sided Battle Lake out at almost 58% of the time.  We limited their runs pretty well and forced them out of system more often than not in those last two sets.  All 10 players available tonight played an important role for us.  The players prepare every day in case they are needed, and tonight that preparation paid off.  I though Taylor Yeats and Olivia Otto did a great job defensively for us tonight with 18 and 10 digs respectively.  We still need to do a better job communicating and working as a unit, but we had a good blocking scheme and our defenders found the ball off those blocks.  We have some things to focus on offensively and choices, but overall it was a nice win. We go to the Subway Classic Tournament in Marshall Friday and Saturday.”

The Chargers were led by Taylor Yeats (20/20 serving, 3 aces, 18 digs, 4 kills), Kendall Hoidahl (13/13 serving, 1 ace), Olivia Otto (11/11 serving, 3 aces, 8 kills, 10 digs), Kylee Dingwall (11 kills) and Gretchen Bredberg (6 kills, 9/10 serving, 1 ace).

“The first set was great,” said Battle Lake Head Coach Jenny Roisum.  “Both teams played hard and played some solid, consistent volleyball.  The Chargers came out in set two and we could not find our flow.  We made too many unforced errors to stay in the match.”

Grace VanErp led the Battlers with 10 kills, while Ady Tysdal finished with 9 kills and 9 digs.  Kaylor Brandner added 7 digs and Sophie Akerman dished out 12 assists.

The Battlers host Hillcrest Lutheran Academy in another LEC match on Thursday night.