Top-seeded Owatonna ends the Hastings volleyball season

A good Hastings volleyball season came to an end Friday with a loss to the top-seeded Owatonna Huskies.

Hastings had advanced to the second round of the tournament by beating Northfield here on Wednesday in three straight games.

Against Northfield, Hastings won 25-21, 25-18 and 25-23. Hastings was the No. 8 seeded team in the tournament, and Northfield was No. 9.

“That was, hands down, our best game of the season,” coach Rita Girgen said. “I think that, for the first time, everybody that was on the court was ‘on.’ Everybody took care of their spot on the court, and they all made great plays.

“We had some great chemistry. If we could have played like that all season long, we would have been in a totally different position.”

Hastings finished the season with a 9-17 overall record.

“Ending our season this way gives us high hopes for next year,” Girgen said. “We have a pretty strong roster of kids returning with another year of experience under their belt. We’re excited for all the things to come.”

Against Northfield, Hastings had a balanced attacked offensively. Biancca DuFour had seven kills, Sabrina Astar had six, Cydney Lovich had six and and Heather Petersen had five.

Grace Rolloff also had a strong night, Girgen said.

“She had her best match of the season,” she said. “Defensively, she just kept us in plays. She made digs that otherwise would have cost us a point.”

Sabrina Astar also excelled, Girgen said.

“She didn’t have any hitting errors that night,” Girgen said. “She was on offensively that night more than any of the nights the rest of the season. She rose to the occasion.”

Kaylyn Nicklay led the team in set assists with 27.

DuFour, Rolloff and Shelby Wassink each had two service aces.

DuFour led in serving points with eight. Wassink had seven and Courtney Van De Velde and Rolloff each had six.

Devon Santelman had 13 digs and Rolloff had eight.

DuFour had three solo blocks and Peterson had two. Astar had two block assists.

Santelman led in serve-receive-average with a 2.41. Du Four had a 2.04 average.

Vs. Owatonna

Hastings lost to Owatonna on Friday night, 25-17, 25-16, 25-7.

The Huskies were the section’s No. 1 seeded team.

“We led, 8-3, in the first game, and forced them to call a timeout,” Girgen said. “Our girls realized after that they could play with anybody.”

The Huskies tied up the score and went on to win, but scoring that many points against them was something Girgen and the team were proud of, she said.

“Getting that many points from them in those first two games, that’s quite an accomplishment,” she said. “I’m proud of how the girls handled themselves. They went out there and went after it.”

DuFour led Hastings in kills with eight. Petersen had six.

Nicklay had 17 set assists.

DuFour had a service ace and led in serving points with three.

Wassink, Van De Velde and Rolloff each had two.

Santelman had five digs and DuFour had two.

Astar had a solo block. Nicklay and Van De Velde each had block assists.

Petersen had a serve-receive-average of 2.0. Wassink had a 1.86 and Santelman had a 1.83.

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