Neither Austin, nor John Marshall – a pair of streaking teams – was willing to budge Tuesday in Rochester, leading to a 0-0 tie.

Wednesday, October 13, 1999

Neither Austin, nor John Marshall – a pair of streaking teams – was willing to budge Tuesday in Rochester, leading to a 0-0 tie.

"That’s a good result for us," said Austin coach David Graham, whose club has gone 2-0-2 lately, allowing just two goals in the four games.

Graham admitted the Rockets dominated play, controlling the ball from midfield to their offensive third of the field. It was there that the Rockets ran into trouble – courtesy of the heart of Austin’s defense.

Stopper Erin Heimer, sweeper Drew Oesterle and goalkeeper Shane Peterson suffocated the JM attack and kept the Packers in the game.

"They were solid," Graham said.

JM came into the game on a roll. Austin beat JM earlier in the season 2-1, but, after some lineup shuffling, these weren’t the same Rockets. JM came into the game on a 5-1-1 streak.

"I was worried we were going to be too confident, having beaten them earlier," Graham said.

With the tie, Austin has now tied two of the top four teams in the section on its current streak – fourth-seeded JM and second-seeded Winona.

Austin plays Mayo Thursday in Rochester before Saturday’s Section 1AA matchup with Owatonna at Wescott Field.

The winner of that game will face No. 1 Eagan on Tuesday.

"If we play well we should beat them," Graham said. Eighth-seeded Austin has beaten the No. 9 Huskies twice this season and outshot them 30-4 in the teams’ last matchup, a 2-1 Austin win.

Other playoff matchups Tuesday: No. 5 Lakeville at No. 4 JM, No. 7 Rosemount at No. 2 Winona and No. 6 Century at No. 3 Mayo.

Volleyball

Austin crushes Albert Lea

The Austin volleyball team dominated a Big Nine team for the second-straight outing Tuesday. After dispatching Century last week, Austin upped its Big Nine mark to 3-4 by drilling Albert Lea on the road, 15-4, 15-11, 15-6.

Austin (12-11-2) was led by Gina Goldberg who finished with 15 set assists and three ace serves.

The Packers missed just two serves on the night.

"They couldn’t receive our serves," Coach Andrea Becker said. "For the most part it was a serving match."

Lauren Feller and Erin Coleman led the Packer with five kills apiece. A somewhat ill Brooke Gentzler had four. Austin hosts JM Thursday.