The Austin Packers girls volleyball team will host a first-round section tournament match Wednesday night at the Austin gym.

Tuesday, October 24, 2000

The Austin Packers girls volleyball team will host a first-round section tournament match Wednesday night at the Austin gym.

The Packers received the eighth seed in the section tournament and will play host to ninth-seeded Rochester John Marshall, a team the Packers beat in the regular season, 3-1.

"It’s nice to go in knowing that we’ve beat them in the past," Packer coach Treasure Ransom said.

The one game the Packers lost to the Rockets on Oct. 12 at John Marshall was arguably the best game Austin has played all year. With the Rockets at game point, the Packers forced 10 sideouts before JM’s Erin Effle gave her team a 15-11 win with a game-ending kill.

The Packers dominated at the service line in the match, with senior Stacy Fisher going 23-for-23. Sophomore hitter Theresa Hirsch was 12-for-12 serving against JM and had a match-high 16 kills. JM had a rough night at the service line and had a number of hitting errors that aided Austin’s cause.

"(John Marshall) struggled with their serving," Ransom said of the first meeting between the teams. "But we played very well in that match and we need to play at the same high level on Wednesday."

Should Austin (10-13-2 overall, 3-6 Big Nine Conference) defeat JM (11-14-3), it will likely travel to top-seeded Owatonna (23-4) on Friday for a second round match. Owatonna plays host to Albert Lea in the first round Wednesday.