The Lady Trojans really came out strong in the first set. “We were aggressive right from the start against the Hornets,” said Barnesville Head Coach Megan Askegaard. “We traded points back and forth with them as each team was scrappy on defense and we were attacking all areas on the net. Our goal was to catch them and tie things back up before 20. Kenadee Gray went back to the serving line late in the game and gave the much needed spark to get things rolling on our side and to put us up 21-19 before an attacking error on our front row play. We played them tough all the way to the end of the match, however they were very strong at the net and picked up many of the balls that we sent over. 

As for set 2, Askegaard reported, “We had another strong start moving into the second set with a great 4-0 from serves from Rumley Biewer. Amelia pushed on with her serves and gave us a 10-4 lead before they scored on our hitting errors. We allowed them to come back due to mistakes on the net. Our defense in the backcourt was digging up many balls in the end line, however, they found our holes in the middle of the court. Our defense needs to be more active and not watch balls hit the floor near us. We need to make more of an effort to hit the floor and pick them up.” 

“Set 3 was a game of Henning wanting to put the match away and we were not nearly as aggressive as we needed to be,” continued Askegaard. “The urgency to always attack just wasn't’ there and we were caught playing too much defense in this 3rd set. They are a very good team with many strong attackers. They were also very scrappy in the backcourt throughout the night.”

Leaders for the lady Trojans were Emily Smith (8 kills, 11/13 serving, 2 aces, 3 solo blocks), Amelia Newell (12/12 serving, 1 block assist, 7 set assists), Biewer (12/14 serving, 2 aces, 12 set assists, 4 kills, 11 digs, 1 block assist), Gray (9/10 serving, 1 ace, 12 digs), Emily Riddle (5 kills, 1 solo block, 3 block assists), Belle Peterson (5 kills, 1 block assist), Kenzie Skogen (18 digs, 9/9 serving, 1 ace, 3 kills) and Sydney Strand (12 digs). 

Barnesville (6-6) will host Breckenridge on Thursday night.

Henning (12-3) will entertain Wadena-Deer Creek on Thursday night.

No information was received from Henning.