Volleyball: Tigers open with sweep

• Volleyball

Farmington's Katie Habeck celebrates during the team's season-opening sweep of Hastings.

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A little adversity didn’t affect the new-look Farmington volleyball team in its first game of the 2010 season.

The Tigers, playing with a lineup that featured just two returning letterwinners from last year’s state-qualifying team, overcame a five-point deficit late in Game 2 and held on after a back-and-forth Game 3 to score a season-opening 25-17, 26-24, 27-25 sweep of Hasting Friday night in Hastings.

“They played really well together,” coach Mike Woody said. “One thing I was most surprised and proud about was that instead of looking at the scoreboard and letting that dictate their mood and determination, they ignored it. They fought hard for each point and were able to get back into it. They changed the momentum, which is tough for a team to do.”

The Tigers had no problem claiming Game 1, thanks in large part to the back-row play of middle hitter Katie Habeck. The senior, playing in the back row portion of the rotation for the first time this season, handled the majority of Hastings’ hits across the net and matched Renee MacLean for the team lead with 15 digs.

“They saw Habeck in the back row in serve receive and they went right at her and we couldn’t be more happy about that,” Woody said. “She’s one of our best passers and she put us right into our offense.”

Habeck also slammed 17 kills and posted three blocks. Laura Steege added a career-high 10 kills and Jordan Bridges and MacLean each added three.

“We saw our hitters mature,” Woody said. “Down the stretch in Game 3 we made some adjustments and the girls weren’t just swinging away. They placed some balls, founds some holes and made the other team work. They were very coachable and when we called a timeout and talked about things, they made the adjustments.”

First-year varsity player Haley Lundquist took the majority of the reps at the setter position and finished with 17 assists. Mia Johnston added seven set assists.

The Tigers played again Tuesday night when they traveled south to take on the Austin Packers. They play again tonight at Lakeville South before returning home next Tuesday for a game against Rosemount.

Tags: sports, farmington, tigers, prep, volleyball