Left: Note the look on No. 5 Anna Carman’s face as Megan Lehto blocks a Barnum spike. Only Lazarus made a bigger comeback than the Vikings did in their third game against Barnum in a match filled with more ups and downs than a roller coaster ride. Top: Carrie Palmer takes a knee to dig the ball off of the floor. Above: Jessica Berg-Collman is down on both knees digging the ball from the floor against Barnum.
Viking fans were treated to some of the best, most exciting volleyball games ever played at Cook County High School last Tuesday night, October 8 when the Barnum Bombers came to play a fired-up Vikings team.
The first game was tight, with the Vikings taking a 4-0 lead before Barnum came back to tie the score 6-6. From that juncture the two teams fought tooth and nail for each point.
Head Coach Pam Taylor called a timeout when Barnum took a 20-17 lead, and following the break the Vikings came back to win 28-26 in a long game with many exciting points hotly contested by both teams.
Midway through the second game the score was knotted at 13 all when the Vikings put on a surge and took a 4-point lead. It was a lead they would expand on and the Vikings won 25-18 in a game that was closer than the score indicates.
Game three started like game one, with the Vikings up 4-0. But Barnum came back to tie it and from there on out it was a donnybrook with players from both teams going out of bounds to save the ball or making spectacular digs or just pounding the ball at the net.
With the fans cheering loudly and the band chiming in and the football team helping to lead the cheering, the gym was rocking the entire third game.
However, Barnum, behind the fine floor play of their libero Elizabeth Sullivan and big hitters Darron Mainville and Olivia Angell, surged to take a 24-19 lead and only needed to score one more point to win the game and stay alive in the match.
“I don’t think that I have ever had a team come back when they were down that far and the other team only needed one more point to win,” Taylor said after the game.
With the game on the line Barnum’s server hit the net, giving the Vikings the ball and their 20th point. Maddy Roy served the next 4 points for the Vikings to tie the score, and then Barnum took a 25-24 lead.
In volleyball the first team who reaches 25 wins, but they must win by 2 points. And so the game went, back and forth, back and forth while the crowd got louder and louder, neither team giving an inch.
The teams tied at 25, and tied again at 27, and tied again at 29, and once more at 30. With Sarah Deschampe serving, the Vikings took the next two points to win 32-30 and take the match 3-0.
Outstanding players for the Vikings were Morgan Mixdorf, Jessica Berg- Collman, Breanna Peterson, Sarah Deschampe, Anna Carman, Jamie Sjogren, Linden Sutton, Carrie Palmer, Megan Lehto and Madison Roy. Yes, that’s the whole team.
Coach Taylor was thrilled with the way her squad played. “Tonight we played like a true team. All of the kids played well. They talked to each other out on the court. They stayed positive. It was a great effort by everybody.”
When asked if she ever had a team play to 30 points, Taylor said, “Not that I can remember!”
The defense was key in this win. “We don’t have a second hitter. We’ve got Linden [Sutton] as a hitter but the rest of our team is looking for open spots on the floor. We’re not going to put dents in the floor, so we’ve got to find the holes and the kids are doing that,” Taylor said.
For the match Morgan Mixdorf had 5 kills, Sarah Deschampe, 11 digs, Anna Carman, 11 digs and 4 kills, Linden Sutton, 9 kills, and Maddy Roy had 14 set assists.
The Vikings have two more games on their schedule before heading into playoffs. For the year their record is 11-8, and if they win their last games against Silver Bay and McGregor they might get a playoff game at home. As of now the Vikings are in 6th place in the 12-team Polar League with a 4-4 conference record, “And we are ranked 5th in our half of the Sections,” Taylor said.
Vikings beat Lakeview
On Thursday, October 3 the Vikings played Lakeview Christian at the University of Wisconsin and Taylor said the big gym affected her players. “The way the gym was set up threw us. The kids never really adjusted to it.”
Still the Vikings swept Lakeview 25-22, 25-15, and 25-20 to take the match.
Vikings place 4th in Two Harbors tournament
The Vikings traveled to Two Harbors on Saturday, October 5 and played three games. Up first were the Proctor Rails. Although the Vikings played great, they lost 25-21 and 26-24.
Next up were the Denfeld Hunters, which the Vikings beat 2-1. Again the contest was close, with the Vikings taking the first game 25-22 and then losing game two 25-17.
The Vikings took the third and final game 15-13. That win set up a game with Eveleth-Gilbert Golden Bears and that, too, was close throughout with the Vikings winning game one 25-18. The Golden Bears took game two 25-22 and then beat the Vikings 15-13.
“All of the games were close, the girls played really consistent volleyball. We are starting to peak now, which is exactly what we [coaches] want to see,” Taylor said.
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