by Theodore Tollefson

This last week, the Hastings Raiders Girls Volleyball team had two conference matchups on the schedule that were both hosted on their home court at Hastings High School.

The first match of the week was against Mahtomedi High School on Thursday, September 30. Mahtomedi came into the game with a 3-0 conference record and 6-7 overall record on the season while the Raiders sat with a conference record of 1-3 and 1-15 overall.

The first set of the match was completely one sided as Mahtomedi dominated over the Raiders with a score of 25-2. Moving into the second set, the Raiders awoke from the slump of their first set and were able to create a more competitive game against Mahtomedi, but they still fell short as Mahtomedi also won that set 25-18. With the final set, Mahtomedi completed the sweep over the Raiders winning the set with a score of 2514.

The win for Mahtomedi brought their overall season record to 7-7 and their conference record to 4-0. The loss for the Raiders brought their conference record to 1-4 and their overall record on the season to 1-16.

Monday, October 4 the Raiders hosted the Simley Spartans for another home meet. Coming into the meet, Simley had a 4-1 conference record and a 9-8-2. The first set of the match went in favor of the Spartans as they beat the Raiders 25-14. The second set was the closest of the game, but was still in favor of the Spartans as they beat the Raiders once again with a score of 25-21. Simley was able to complete the sweep over the Raiders in the third and final set with a winning score of 25-15.

The Raiders have the remainder of this week off and will resume their next match on Monday, October 11 against Hill Murray at Hastings High School. Hill Murray is currently 5-9 on the season and 0-4 in conference play, but will have played a match against United Christian Publishing on Tuesday, October 5. The match between the Raiders and Pioneers on October 11 will begin at 7:00 p.m.