Unbeaten heading into tough stretch

Tigers volleyball coach Dennis Piechowski challenged his team following Tuesday's win over Northfield. The next eight days will be the toughest stretch of volleyball - how will you react?

Through the first match, the team seems to be responding. Hutchinson went on the road and defeated previously unbeaten Willmar 3-0. The scores were 25-19, 25-15 and 25-10.

According to assistant coach Tim Carroll, the Tigers led by even more until late in games one and two.

Carroll said senior co-captain Laura Carlson was "dominant" wherever she was on the court. Her freshman sister, Sara, started the final two games and played well.

Laura had a match-high 13 kills and three ace blocks, while Sara had four kills and a service ace.

The assistant coach said Willmar struggled with the Hutchinson middle hitters all night.

Mackenzie Piechowski was second on the team with eight kills, while fellow middle hitter Kayla Tronick had seven kills and a team-high four ace blocks.

Setter Gladys Bonnema also had a career-high 20 set assists.

Now with a record of 4-0, Hutchinson is sure to be tested this weekend at the Southwest Minnesota Volleyball Challenge in Marshall.

The Tigers play BOLD (0-2) at 5 p.m. and will likely play Class AA No. 3 Marshall at 7:30 p.m. Both matches wil be played at Marshall High School.

Following the five-match tournament, Hutchinson will host Dassel-Cokato Monday and travel to Farmington Thursday.

Look for updates throughout the wekend.

Eric Kraushar is the sports editor at the Hutchinson Leader. He can be reached at sports@hutchinsonleader.com.