Huskies Dig Pink, Battle Tough Against John Marshall
Owatonna volleyball closed out its regular season Tuesday night and pushed tough against Rochester John Marshall before falling 3-sets-to-1. The Rockets, second place in the Big Nine, won 25-23, 25-27, 25-19, 25-15.
The Huskies hosted Dig Pink night, raising money for the Hope Fund with the Owatonna Hospital Foundation's Grateful Patients program. Funds benefit local women currently receiving treatment for breast cancer.
OHS started in a hole, trailing 6-0 in the opening set. After a timeout, the Huskies went on an 8-1 run and set the stage for what would be a back-and-forth battle most of the night. Owatonna led 20-18 in the set, but JM closed on a 7-3 run to take it 25-23. Huskies sophomore Emily Hagen had a great start to the night with six of her 13 kills in the opening set.
Owatonna jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the second set. The Rockets eventually took the lead and were up 20-17 when the Huskies put on a strong push to with the set 27-25. Huskies junior Liv Johnson had about five of her 11 kills in the second set.
The teams traded points early in the third set but the Rockets went ahead 12-7 and maintained roughly that margin until winning 25-19. The fourth set also was close early. OHS was within 8-6. Then JM zipped ahead 14-7. Owatonna scored the next three points but the Rockets began to pull away after that to finish off the night with a 25-15 win.
Owatonna junior Kaitlyn Madole had about ten kills, giving the Huskies three with double digit kills. JM's Katilyn Steffes led everyone with 20 kills. Allyssa Ihde and Anna Rietveld each had about eight. JM was very strong serving and had about 12 aces.
Owatonna is off until the start of the section tournament October 24. John Marshall plays at the Rochester Exchange Tournament Friday and faces Century Monday in a makeup match.
Northfield wrapped up an undefeated Big Nine Conference season with a win over Faribault on Tuesday.