“It was a close game for sure,” said Rothsay Head Coach Kim Braaten. “Our team played incredibly well tonight, but most importantly we played together. We had a tough time playing together on Tuesday night against Parkers Prairie and it honestly was a low point in our season. We all together talked about how are goals need to be team based rather than individually based and how being a good teammate has got to be our #1 goal every day. The way we play depends on the way we treat each other and I honestly believe that. Tonight, we were able to pull together which is a hard thing to do when you hit valleys or low points. I am incredibly proud of them, not just for the win against Battle Lake, but more importantly how we moved forward and wanted to be better as a whole. As for Battle Lake, they definitely played hard with us. Halie Johnson, an outside hitter was very impressive. I am not sure of the stats that she had tonight, but I really admired her work ethic and how positive she was on their side of the court. It is fun to play against players like her.”

Rothsay was led by Kenadi Carlsrud (3 kills, 1 assist, 16 blocks), Jayna Gronewold (8 kills, 11 blocks, 6 digs), Jenna Fabre (5 kills, 24 assists, 6 aces, 8 blocks), Rachel Brenden (13 blocks), Emily Christ (9 kills,7 blocks, 10 digs), Summer Wigdahl (2 aces, 17 digs) and Grace Lider (6 kills, 4 aces, 3 blocks, 9 digs).

“As for our team, every single player whether they played or not, did exactly what was asked and more,” noted Coach Braaten. “Our passes were on, our sets were great, our work on the net was fantastic. This game doesn’t rely on a single player or two. We all came out tonight and our stats will show that. It was a fun night for sure.”

Allison Marso earned her 1000th career kill on her first hit of the night, finishing with 18 kills and 7 aces. Kate Christensen had 11 kills, Halie Johnson and Reice Amundson each had 5 kills, and Hayle Knudson dished out 38 assists and had 11 digs.

“Rothsay cleaned up their side and pushed back in set 2 after we won the first set,” said Battle Lake Head Coach Jenny Roisum.  “Each set went back and forth with both teams making runs.  Rothsay did a great job of fighting till the very end.  We had the lead but just couldn't finish set 4 to force a game 5.”

The Battlers head to Parkers Prairie to finish the regular season next Tuesday.