WINONA — The Austin volleyball team struggled against a quick hitting Winona team as it had its season in a Section 1AAA tournament opener.

The No. 12 Packers (4-23 overall) lost 25-18, 25-16, 25-12 to the No. 5 seeded Winhawks (18-10 overall).

Austin trailed throughout most of the first and third sets, but it led 11-8 in in the second set before the Winhawks took over.

“Some of their hitters went line and some went cross. We just couldn’t figure it out. Our defense was not there, we just weren’t up to par,” Austin senior hitter Ashley Hawkshead said. “We lack consistency. We have our ups and downs and we can’t find that happy medium. That’s been our struggle all year. We couldn’t click ”

Austin senior Kelsey Sederquest had 17 digs for the Packers and junior Amber Hansen had three kills.

“We’re going to miss the seniors, but we have some young girls who are ready to step up and take over that leadership role,” Austin head coach Cindy Owen said.

Although they still went winless in the conference, the Packers made some subtle strides this season. They won more sets than they had in years past, but they just weren’t able to finish very many matches.

“In the past we’ve gone 3-0 a lot, this year we pushed a lot of teams to four and five sets,” Owen said. “We need to look at that as an accomplishment. We need to look at the program and realize that we took baby steps. It’s going to take awhile to build a program up.”

Austin stats: Awenia Nywesh, 6 points serving, 3 blocks; Shayley Vesel, 4 points serving, 5 kills, 10 set assists, 7 digs, 3 blocks; Marissa Hart, 2 points serving, 4 set assists; Ashley Hawkshead, 3 kills, 5 digs, 4 blocks; Amber Hansen,

3 kills; Abi Collins, 2 kills, 3 blocks; Kelsey Sederquest, 2 kills, 17 digs; Summer Maloney, 2 kills