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#8 Rothsay defeated #9 Battle Lake 3-1 (25-22, 19-25, 25-23, 25-23) in Rothsay on Monday evening in the Playin round of the Section 6A North Volleyball Tournament.
“Tonight was a hard-won battle from start to finish,” reported Rothsay Head Coach John Reber. “Both teams were determined to keep the ball off the floor. It was a match defined by long rallies full of hustle plays. Long rallies led to tired setters, which led to off-tempo swings, which led to even longer rallies. By halfway through the fourth set we were having the volleyball version of a rock fight. While this match won't win any style awards, everyone on both sides of the net played their hearts out and should be proud of their efforts.”
Reber continued his match assessment, “For the Tigers part, tonight was a true team win. In a match this close throughout, each Tiger player had her moment to shine. While the Battler block was tough to puncture, Kenadi Carlsrud (16 kills, 16 digs, 1.9 passing average), Bethany Danielson (9 kills) and Adriana Willits (7 kills, 4 blocks) found ways to score nonetheless. Elli Meyer (34 set assists, 7 digs, 4 blocks) put a ton of miles on and kept things chugging along with our offense. Gracyn Petersen (4 aces, 19 digs, 1.9 passing average) and Katie Reber (3 aces) provided air support from the service line, with Gracyn coming through yet again with an ace on match point. Savannah Sullivan (4 kills, 13 digs, 2 blocks) ended the third set with a clutch solo block. Finally, I want to acknowledge Madison Tillman (10/10 serving with 1 ace, 7 kills, 2 blocks) and Lisa Kjelgaard (10 digs) who all season have taken care of so many of the little things on the court that rarely show up on the stat sheet, but are so vital to helping our team be successful.”
Battle Lake Head Coach Jenny Roisum stated, “This was a great opening round of volleyball with both teams playing great defense. The Battlers made too many unforced errors throughout the night and Rothsay was able to capitalize on them. Set 4 came down to a 23-23 tie with Rothsay finishing on a kill and ace. The Battlers had a few nice scoring runs but ran out of time. Seniors Morgan Malone, Anna Bellig, and Quinn Amundson played hard right to the end. Thank you ladies for a fun season.”
Malone finished with 10 kills, 18 digs, and 5 blocks. Amundson had 5 kills and 12 digs. Kenady Cameron added 7 kills and 5 blocks while Sophie Akerman added 26 assists and 14 digs.
Rothsay will move on to face top-seeded Henning at 7:00pm on Wednesday.