The Hutchinson volleyball season came to a close Friday, but not without a fight against the No. 1-ranked team in state.
Before that, however, the Tigers won their final home match of the season with a 3-0 sweep of St. Peter Oct. 27 in the first round of the Section 2AAA playoffs.
To coach Dennis Piechowski’s delight, the Tigers took down the Saints 25-18, 25-17 and 25-16. The team remained focused through all three games of the match and never let up, but actually kept the pressure on St. Peter throughout the night.
“I think that we really did execute our game plan,” Piechowski said. “Defensively, we knew where we needed to be and what changes we made. But the big change we made was offensively. We changed our rotation around a little bit, got some other hitters involved early to score, and I think that was a big thing that helped us out — we weren’t relying on one person, Adri.”
For the Hutchinson seniors who played, it was a comfort to know they had earned a win on what would be their final home match of the season and their careers.
“It felt really good,” said senior Mady Heller. “I think all of us knew what we had to do, and we played our hearts out because we knew it might possibly be our last (home match). It was a big game.”
After the win, the Tigers only had one day to prepare for the section semifinal and what they knew would be their toughest match of the season against Marshall. Hutch and Marshall had played earlier in the season, with Marshall earning a 3-0 victory. Hutch knew it would have its hands full but was looking forward to the match following the win against St. Peter.
“I think we’re all looking forward to it,” said Alyssa Stamer. “After we first played them, we saw what our competition is and we’ve been working to play this game all season.”
That work all season paid off, but not quite enough as Marshall was victorious 25-14, 25-22 and 25-23.
The first game was close to start, but Marshall built a 12-6 lead and didn’t look back on its way to a quick win. The second set was closer. Marshall built an early lead but Hutchinson drew to within one point at 10-9 and 17-6. Still, the top-ranked team in state fought off Hutch’s attempts at a comeback and won the game to take a 2-0 lead.
In the final set, Hutchinson put in its best effort of the night to nearly steal a game away from Marshall. Hutch built up a 14-8 lead early before letting it slip away. Marshall tied the match up at 17 and took a 19-18 lead it would hold the rest of the game.
Hutchinson finished the season with a 19-13 overall record and fell one game short of the section final.
