“The varsity took the court and immediately started the night off with some strong serve behind Kenzie Skogen,” reported Head Coach Megan Askegaard of Barnesville. “Our defense was on our toes ready to pick up any balls that came back over the net. The Panthers really struggled getting a pass up on the net to start off the night and get into a scoring run. We stayed aggressive and made a great effort to score on our first ball and third ball. Our serving was tough in this first set and we were able to push strong start to finish to make things happen for us.” 

Skogen wound up 18-for-18 on the serving line with 3 aces on the night.  Amelia Newell was also 18-for-18 with 3 aces and Emily Smith was a perfect 12-for-12 with 2 aces.  As a team, the Trojans were 72-for-74 with 10 aces.

“Moving into the second set we again got off to a great start with strong serving runs and putting the ball in a great scoring position to lead the set off,” said Askegaard.  “Rumley Biewer and Jaida Bontjes worked together to find their hitters up on the net and move the ball to where the Panthers block was not. Defensively, Sydney Strand, Kenzie, and Kenadee Gray played many tips and 3rd balls up and into our system to keep things in control on our side. Our block was a little off to start, however we made some adjustments with our timing and then we were able to get our timing together and get our hands on the ball at the net. We used the free balls very well tonight and worked hard to run our offense as quick as we could.  Park Rapids improved by 6 points each set tonight, however we were strong from start to finish for this road trip tonight.”

Emily Riddle (7 kills, 4 block assists), Skogen (5 kills, 1 block assist, 7 digs), Smith (4 kills, 2 solo blocks, 2 block assists, 4 digs), Biewer (16 set assists, 8 digs, 3 kills, 1 solo block), Strand (7 digs) and Gray (5 digs, 6/6 serving) all contributed for the Trojans. 

Barnesville (14-9) will host Pelican Rapids in their final home match on Thursday night.