The Austin volleyball team played right with Winona early on, but it couldn’t keep things up as it lost 25-23, 25-19, 25-10 in Packer Gym Thursday.

Austin (3-7 overall, 0-2 Big Nine) trailed the first game 4-1 early on, but it battled back to take a 13-10 lead. The Winhawks (3-2 overall, 3-1 Big Nine) eventually scored four straight points to take a 22-19 lead.

Austin trailed 5-2 to start the second game and it rallied to take a 8-6 lead before Winona regained control.

“It seems like we can play two good games and then we struggle in the third game,” Austin head coach Cindy Owen said. “Winona’s a very good team and we battled. The kids were moving well on the court. In game three were on the heels of our feet and you can’t do that against a good team.”

Alex Hansen had four kills and four digs for the Packers and Shayley Vesel had four kills, but Austin’s offense couldn’t keep up any constancy.

“We have to continue attacking all through the entire night and we didn’t always do that tonight,” Owen said. “It’s important that we end strong, because momentum carries over to the next game and that’s a huge way to start.”

Austin stats: Alex Hansen, 3 points serving, 4 kills, 4 digs; Amber Hansen, 3 points serving, 2 ace blocks; Trista Akkerman, 3 kills; Abbi Collins, 6 points serving; Shayley Vesel, 6 points serving, 4 kills, 5 set assists; Marissa Hart, 5 set assists; Kelsey Sederquest, 13 digs; Awenia Nywesh, 2 ace blocks