Upper left: Sara Carman stretches mightily to get to a ball just before it hit the floor. Left: Carrie Palmer (16) made a great play on this ball. Above: Britta Andress (9) sends the ball back over the net in the Vikings’ game against the Wrenshall Wrens. The Vikings swept the Wrens 3-0.
The Viking volleyball team traveled to Two Harbors on September 4 and polished off the Agates 25-12, 25-6, 25-15.
Leading the way was Jamie Sjogren, who finished with 4 kills and 5 digs. Linden Sutton finished with 4 kills, 7 digs and 3 ace serves.
The Vikings record moved to 3-0 for the season.
Vikings sweep Wrenshall Wrens
In old German, the wren was called “king of birds,” an honor bestowed upon the bird that could fly the highest. Of course the eagle could attain the greatest height, but hidden in his plumage was a wren, who soared even higher to earn the title and the crown.
While the Wrenshall Wrens weren’t quite as stealthy as their namesake, they gave the Vikings some tough games.
Up 8-0 in the first game, it appeared as if the Vikings had clipped the Wrens’ wings and the contest was going to end early. No one told Wrenshall, however. Slowly but surely Wrenshall pecked away at the Vikings’ lead until the score was 19-18, still in favor of the Vikings but it seemed like the air was squarely under the Wrens’ wings and they were going to soar to a victory.
But the Vikings settled down and started making some great plays. Just when it looked like Wrenshall had a sure point—the ball screaming for the ground— Jamie Sjogren came out of nowhere and made a fantastic save on the hard-hit ball to give the Vikings a 21-19 lead.
With their confidence back and surging behind two great spikes by senior Britta Andress in her first varsity start, the Vikings closed out the game 25-9.
The Vikings won the second game 25-17, this time behind some fine serving from Jamie Sjogren and Alex Slanga. Meredith Sutton hammered home a couple of big spikes to set the tone early, and the back row play of Maddy Roy, Sarah Carman, Carrie Palmer and Morgan Mixdorf set up their taller teammates nicely.
The third game was long and well played by both teams. Down 10-13, Linden Sutton hit back-to-back spikes to bring the Vikings within 1 point. Lily Gruber- Schulz added a spike of her own and Linden tied the score behind an ace serve. Still, Wrenshall wouldn’t go away, and they led 21-20 before the Vikings caught a break when a Wrenshall player served into the net to give the Vikings a tie. That gave the ball back to the Vikings and Meredith Sutton wasted little time pounding the ball into Wrenshall’s backcourt to give a 22-21 lead.
Jamie Sjogren made three great serves to give the Vikings a 25-22 win.
For the game Linden Sutton had 12 digs, 7 kills, 3 solo blocks, and 4 ace serves. Jamie Sjogren finished with 10 digs and Britta Andress had 4 solo blocks. Alex Slanga had 3 ace serves and 6 assists while Maddy Roy finished with 9 assists.
The Vikings are now 4-0 on the season with a home game against Barnum at press time on Thursday, September 11, then three more games next week, the first one on September 15 against Mesabi East away; Carlton on the 16th away; and Esko at home on September 18. The varsity takes the floor against Esko at 6:30 p.m.
Go Vikings!
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