Left: The hard-hitting Viking girls hammered the ball at the Albrook Falcons at the game at Hermantown on Friday, October 30. The Vikings defeated Albrook in three to continue their progress in playoffs. (L-R) Ashley Deschampe, Christina Nelson at the net, Brea Boomer, Bekah Laky, Kristina Rude. Above: The volleyball team had some high-spirited cheerleaders—the Gentlemen Vikes!— entertaining the crowd between the action.
With the Cook County Vikings volleyball team getting a No. 1 seed in the Section 7A playoffs, they had a first-round bye. In the second round of playoff action, the Vikings hosted the No. 8 seed Cotton Cardinals on Wednesday, October 28. The Cardinals had defeated No. 9 seed Tower-Soudan to advance to round two against Cook County.
The Vikings and Cardinals had not played against each other in the regular season, so they didn’t know too much about one another. But it was a high stakes meeting—the winner of this round would advance to thirdround playoff action at Hermantown High School against either No. 4 seed Albrook or No. 5 seed Silver Bay on Oct. 30.
The Vikings were still without senior players Essa Jacobsen and Sammy Jacobsen.
After the Star Spangled Banner
played by the Cook County High School Pep Band under the direction of Bill Tormondsen), both teams were introduced and Round 2 of Section 7A volleyball was under way.
Photos by Jean Mathis
The Vikings took command from the get-go and Cotton had a tough time against the hard hits of Christina Nelson, Brea Boomer and Ashley Deschampe. The three kept hammering the ball at the Cardinals the whole match. The bench players also got a chance to see some action, and the team displayed some good all-around play.
The Vikings defeated Cotton in three straight games 25-10, 25-26, 25-11 to win the match and advance on to Hermantown.
Coach Pam Taylor was pleased with the team. “Everybody got to play,” she said. “And we played good all around and we are looking forward to playing in Hermantown on Friday.”
Leading the Vikings against Cotton was Christina Nelson with 13 kills and 15 digs. Brea Boomer had five kills and 14 digs; Ashley Deschampe had four kills and 10 digs; Carly Puch had 11 set assists; and Kristina Rude added 10 set assists. Taryn Logan and Chelsey Sorenson added some great serves to the win.
On Oct. 30, the Vikings played Albrook, who defeated Silver Bay to advance. In game one against Albrook, the Vikings looked relaxed and were playing flawless volleyball; they were in command and both Brea Boomer and Christina Nelson were playing excellently at the net.
Chelsey Sorenson, playing in the libero position, had some fantastic digs in the back row. The Vikings won the first game 25-13.
In game two, the Vikings started out a bit slow and Albrook tipped the ball in holes created by the Vikings. There were a lot of great volleys in this game, but the Vikings weren’t coming out on the winning end. Albrook was playing Cook County pretty tough—momentum was not on the Vikings’ side in this game—and they lost game two, 20-25. The Vikings needed to regroup before game three.
In game three, both Albrook and Cook County were in a battle. The Falcons were once again playing the Vikings very tough. Things looked better for the Vikings this game and they were back on track. Once again there were some great long volleys and this time the Vikings came out on the winning end, taking game three by a 25-19 score in exciting fashion.
In game four, the Vikings jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead and never looked back. Albrook looked like they were tiring and the Vikings took full advantage. Albrook tried to make a comeback but totally ran out of steam and the Vikings took game four, 25-11, and the match, advancing them to round four of the playoffs and sending Albrook home.
Vikings’ junior Brea Boomer had her personal best games with 16 kills, 28 digs, six solo blocks and great serving. Christina Nelson had 11 kills and 18 digs. Kristina Rude had 17 set assists and 22 digs. Carly Puch had 14 set assists and Ashley Deschampe had 19 digs and four kills.
The Vikings advanced to play No. 3 seed Nashwauk-Keewatin at press time at 6:00 p.m. on November 4 at Hermantown High School. If they defeat Nashwauk-Keewatin, they will advance to play either Deer River or Carlton at Grand Rapids.
Nashwauk-Keewatin plays quick runs and Cook County will need to match that. The Vikings should have both Sammy Jacobsen and Essa Jacobsen back in the line-up for this game.
Coach Taylor said she was once again pleased with the team’s playing. “We had some trouble in the second game, but we got back to our game in the third.”
Taylor said she would work with the team on running quicker plays on offense before they play Nashwauk- Keewatin.
Good luck Vikings!
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