by John Molene

Hastings varsity coach Anne Korenchen had a long, heart-to-heart talk with her volleyball team immediately following a tough road loss at Henry Sibley Wednesday.

The Raiders fell to 1-6 on the season after dropping a three-set Metro East Conference decision, losing 25-8, 25-12 and 25-19.

It was the sixth straight loss for the Raiders after a season- opening win.

“We just need to consistently get better every single day,” said Korenchen. “We’ve got to make sure we’re utilizing every practice and every opportunity in practice to become a better team, because I don’t think we’ve played our best game as a team tonight.”

“We’ve got to focus on picking up the short stuff and we’ve got to just swing and find the floor when we swing,” Korenchen continued.

Sibley, now 3-3 on the season, dominated play at the net which left both Hastings coaches and players frustrated.

Korenchen mentioned Allie Gronquist and Abby Axell as playing well for the Raiders Wednesday.

“I really thought Allie Gronquist and Abby Axell stepped out,” said the Raiders coach. “We’ve had a couple of situations over the last 48 hours arise and they just – they played serve receive and defense today and they haven’t done any serve receive or defense all season. They stepped into the role and wow – I thought they showed up and they played hard.”

The Raiders get an instant opportunity to get back on the winning track Saturday when the team plays at winless South St. Paul (0-6) Saturday, Nov. 7.

A pair of Hastings players block a shot for a winning point in the third set at Henry Sibley Wednesday.

Hastings junior middle hitter Lilly Nuytten powers a shot past a pair of Henry Sibley defenders Wednesday in a varsity volleyball match at Mendota Heights.