Rod Nakagaki has been coaching his Huskies since 1987.

Wednesday, September 29, 1999

Rod Nakagaki has been coaching his Huskies since 1987.

After Tuesday’s victory in Austin – in which the Packers stretched the Huskies to four games before losing 15-8, 13-15, 15-17 and 16-18 – Nakagaki was frank about the his past run-ins with Austin volleyball.

"I don’t ever remember getting a good match here," he said. "It’s the first time. Andrea Becker has done a fantastic job turning it around here."

The remarkable part of the Packers’ surge is that it has come so suddenly.

Brooke Gentzler, Austin’s shining middle hitter who is affectionately tabbed "The Hammer," credited the team’s uprising to Becker’s sunny-side approach from Day One.

"We’re a lot more positive," Gentzler said. "Since the first day of practice, we’ve been playing more together and picking each other up."

Because of its reputation as a girls basketball power, Austin’s ineptitude on the volleyball court has gone largely overlooked.

But if the Packers (8-9, 1-3 in the Big Nine) continue to fight like they did against Owatonna (11-6-1, 4-1), Austin faithful will have no choice but to take notice.

The Packers displayed their newfound fight often against Owatonna. Leading 9-4 in Game 3, the Packers lost a point, but gained respect by blocking Owatonna’s machine-gun hitters four times in a single flurry.

The Packers trailed 8-1 in Game 2, but didn’t pack it in. Instead, Kellie Grimley and Andrea Lindgren served the team back into the game.

Austin’s tit-for-tat resilience is helped by the presence of Gentzler, whose 21 kills against the Huskies proved how good an exclamation point the senior middle hitter can be.

 

With Austin leading 15-14 in the final game, the tension was so high it prompted Nakagaki to utter to his team, "This is when it’s fun. This is volleyball."

It’s been a long time since Austin has been a part of that.

Notes: Freshman Theresa Hirsch is finding more and more time in Becker’s rotation. She finished with four kills and was perfect from the service line … Austin missed just three serves on the night, prompting Becker to say, "that’s our strength." … The Austin junior varsity improved to 10-4 on the season by beating Owatonna 15-13 and 15-12. "We’re excited," said coach Treasure Ransom. "For the most part we’re really playing together." … On the varsity effort: "I loved the fight," Becker said. "But I want to win those (close matches) really bad and I don’t think the girls are happy without the win either."