Hastings Raiders volleyball took a trip to Eagan for the first round of the section tournament where they fell in three straight sets 12-25, 7-25, 15-25. The Raiders knew they had a difficult road ahead of them with not only some of the best competition in the Metro East Conference, but also the state.

“I was proud of the girls for never giving up in the match. We went into the game knowing that Eagan was voted second in the state in the coach’s poll, so clearly they are a really skilled team. Our section has such competitive teams in it that Eagan was actually ranked second in our section, so as the seventh seed we had to see them,” said head coach Elisabeth Curran.

The Raiders played hard as they did all season. This scrappy bunch never quit the entire season even when the odds were stacked against them.

“I was proud of the girls for never giving up in the match,” added Curran. “Our serving was solid and the girls held their composure well. Lexi Gruden did a good job finding opportunities to score with well placed tips and tooling the block. Norah Thome did a good job in the libero jersey running serve receive and being scrappy in the back row. In the end, they simply outplayed us in every category. We wish them luck in the section finals on Wednesday against East Ridge!”

With the season being over, the Raiders lose a smaller class of seniors, six total players. Thank you to Brooke Mace, Addie Huebsch, Ella Carlson, Norah Thome, Natalie Knutson and Piper Brockman for their commitment to Raider Volleyball over the years. Both the coaching staff and staff here at the paper wish them nothing but the best in their future endeavors.

The future of Hastings Volleyball shows more than a dozen for each class, juniors and seniors, with leaders like juniors Jill McTague, Maddi Gangelhoff and Andi Carlson having extensive varsity experience. Add the consistency of the same head coach entering her third season next year, and the team should make even more strides toward success.