The Winona State University volleyball team’s season came to an end last week, but with it came some consolation.

Going into the first round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament, the Warriors had won three of their last five matches, their best stretch of the season, while first-round foe Minnesota State University-Moorhead had dropped four in a row.

However, the third-ranked Dragons beat Winona State in four games, and the Warriors finished the season with a 10-22 record.

Winona State dropped the first two games, 30-26 and 30-24, won 30-23 in Game 3, but lost the decisive fourth game 30-15.

Junior Kaylan Lati led the way with

10 kills, freshman Lisa Dobie set 31 assists, and Lati and senior Sara Goldstrand each had 13 digs.

All the games in the NSIC tournament were played at the Gangelhoff Center on the Concordia-St. Paul campus.

For her efforts in Winona’s conference sweep in the final weekend of the regular season, Dobie was named the NSIC setter of the week for the second time this season.

She bagged 92 assists, more than 13 per game, and chipped in six kills and four service aces in the wins over UM-Crookston and Bemidji State.

Also receiving accolades were Goldstrand and junior hitter Molly Horihan.

Goldstrand, an Apple Valley, Minn., native and the Warriors’ libero, was named to the All-Academic District V first team, an honor only six players in the region receive.

Horihan, who hails from Spring Grove, Minn., was named NSIC All-Conference Honorable Mention. Horihan started 31 of

32 games for the Warriors this year, was first on the team in hitting percentage, first in blocks per game, first in kills per game, and second in total kills.

The Warriors had only two seniors, Goldstrand and hitter Pam Kowall, on the team, so almost everyone will be back next season, including eight freshmen and two sophomores.

“We lost a lot of matches this year because of inexperience,” WSU coach Connie Mettille said. “Next year we will still be extremely young with just three seniors and two sophomores, but we won’t be inexperienced anymore. Any coach at any level will tell you that experience is the key to winning, and the future is incredibly bright for the Winona State volleyball program.

“We were unanimously picked to finish eighth in the conference, and we took sixth. We are happy with that, but not satisfied. That is how you want your players to approach the offseason, unsatisfied. It gives them more to work for. We are very excited for next year.”