ROCHESTER — The No. 1 seeded Hayfield volleyball team had it’s hopes of earning the school’s first ever trip to the Minnesota Class A State Volleyball Tournament come to an end in a matter of seconds as it fell to No. 2 seeded Faribault Bethlehem Academy in five games in the Section 1A West title match in Mayo Civic Center Thursday.

The Vikings (24-6 overall) led the deciding fifth game 14-12, but the Cardinals (15-14 overall) took the next four points to end Hayfield’s season. Hayfield also had a chance to clinch the match in the fourth game when it came back from a deficit to tie it at 22-22, but the Cardinals scored the last three points of that contest.

FBA won the match by scores of 25-19, 16-25, 15-25, 25-22, 16-14.

Hayfield had knocked off FBA in the subsection finals last year, only to lose to Caledonia in the Section 1A title match. The Vikings were hoping to turn things around this year, but they won’t get their shot at another Section 1A title match.

“It’s really tough. Our whole varsity career I was looking towards going to state and now it’s done,” Hayfield senior hitter Carrie Rutledge, who had 13 kills and 34 digs, said. “It’s a great group of girls and I wouldn’t want to play with anyone else. We accomplished a lot and our record this year was amazing.”

After dropping the first game, Hayfield looked dominant in the second and third games as Kate Kruger and Rutledge stepped up their attack, but FBA was able to turn the tables in the last two games.

“It’s all about momentum. It’s a few points here, a few points there, whether it’s a bad pass or a bad set. It all just goes with each other and it’s a matter of who can keep the momentum going the longest,” Hayfield head coach Jeremy Struck said. “It’s got to be consistent. You’ve got keep fighting and it’s hard to keep it up with that defense. They’re a good team and they’re a good match for us, we just lost in the end.”

Although the Cardinals took the first game, Rutledge said the Vikings weren’t feeling any nerves at that point as they had come back to beat FBA in 2016.

“Last year we lost that first game too, so we were all thinking we could come back and win it again,” Rutledge said. “They’re obviously a really good team and they deserve to be moving on.”

Hayfield will graduate a huge senior class which has been the core of the program over the past few years. Maggie Streightiff, who holds the Hayfield career set assist record, has committed to play volleyball at Division II Upper Iowa and Rutledge, who holds the Hayfield career digs record, has an opportunity to play college volleyball if she chooses to pursue it. Streightiff had 17 kills, 20 set assists and 37 digs in the loss for Hayfield and senior Kate Kruger had 18 kills.

Struck said it will be a tough group to replace.

“They’re a stellar group of girls and they’re a great bunch to have in practice,” Struck said. “They have great things in front of them.”

Hayfield stats: Kate Kruger, 18 kills, 9 digs, 5 blocks; Maggie Streightiff, 17 kills, 20 assists, 37 digs, 2 blocks; Carrie Rutledge, 13 kills, 1 assists, 34 digs, 1 block; Katrina Thoe, 4 kills, 2 digs; Alexis Dudycha 2 kills, 32 assists, 18 digs, 2 blocks, 1 ace; Olivia Matti, 1 kill, 28 digs; Cela Carney, 2 assists, 27 digs, 1 ace