Setter Katie Newell distributed 32 set assists, had 13 digs, went 19-for-21 on the serving line with 3 aces and added 3 kills.  Leading hitters were Emily Bredman with 10 kills, 2 solo blocks and 3 block assists, Anna Stanford with 9 kills, Emily Smith with 8 kills, 2 solo blocks and 2 block assists, and Lexi Bolgrean with 8 kills.  Bolgrean led the team with 18 digs and Stanford had 16.  Sydney Strand came up with 11 digs.  Top servers were Smith (21/21, 2 aces), Stanford (13/14), Bolgrean (12/12) and Kenzie Skogen (12/14, 2 aces).

“Perham battled with us very well on Thursday night,” said Barnesville Head Coach Megan Askegaard. “They were more aggressive and competitive than I have seen them play in past matches. We jumped out to an early lead in the first set, but the Jackets started to make a comeback and gain some rhythm on offense. They attacked us from the outside and we struggled to make some adjustments in our defense and Willow Thiel took advantage of it. We regained our composure and went on a nice serving from Emily Smith. We took control and worked to finish the match.” 

Coach Askegaard continued, “Perham did not just sit back moving into the second set and Thiel came back attacking us as well as a couple strong serves that were dropping in on our serve receive. They took control before we were able to answer and get the lead back at 12-11. We traded points with them before Perham took the second set from us with some strong blocking up on the net. The third set was very exciting as we traded points back and forth with neither team stringing any scoring runs together. We finished off the set with some tough serving down the stretch and with Lexi punching through a couple big kills up at the net.” 

Askegaard added, “The fourth set was controlled by Perham right away before we took the tempo back on our side. They were always right there and picked up many balls we thought were going to be down for a point. The score was close as 21-18 before we got into a groove with our offense and finished the night off 3-1. We controlled the momentum tonight which is something we need to do continuously. I thought we were aggressive on the offensive and defensive end.”