Far left: With more than a little bit of aggression Linden Sutton (No. 7) went up high to spike this ball across the net in the Vikings’ game against Moose Lake/Willow River. Above: As Raina Ryden looked on intently, Lily Gruber-Schulz made a nice play on the ball and bumped it to the front row. Left: Using perfect form, Jordyn Deschampe (No. 4) made a nice play to control the ball and set it to a teammate at mid court.
Pam Taylor has been the head volleyball coach for more than 30 years, coached a lot of good Viking teams along the way, had more ups than downs, but even in the “up” years, the 3-A Esko Eskimos would almost always prove to be a major stumbling block.
That changed on Thursday, September 17, when a hot Viking team traveled to Esko and unthawed the Eskimos on their home floor, winning an exciting match three games to two.
“I think this is only the second time in my career that we have ever beaten Esko,” Taylor said following the heart-pounding action.
Most games were decided by a couple of points; neither side made many mistakes and both squads played each point like it was their last.
The Vikings lost the first game 25-20, won the second game 25-23, lost the third game 22-25, won the fourth game 25-17 and took the final tie breaker 15-12.
Both Viking and Esko players filled up the stat sheet with their great plays.
Maddy Roy finished with 17 set assists, Linden Sutton 14 kills, 8 blocks, 23 digs, Alex Slanga had 17 set assists, Emily Jacobsen 3 blocks, Lily Gruber Schulz 3 blocks and Meredith Sutton finished with 12 kills and 20 digs.
“The girls were awesome, kept their cool and just kept fighting back,” Coach Taylor said. “All five games went back and forth.”
Esko’s Taylor Robinson finished with 6 blocks, 10 digs and 16 set assists, Maria Houser ended her night with 18 set assists and 11 digs and Hannah Stark had 5 blocks, 11 digs, and 11 kills.
Vikings win Hill City Tournament
On Saturday, September 19 the Vikings traveled to Hill City to play in the Hill City Volleyball tournament.
“We didn’t keep stats because we play everybody and they come in and out often,” Taylor said.
While the tournament was a good place for all of the varsity players to see a lot of action on the courts, it was also a good place to pick up three more wins. The Vikings beat Bigfork 25-10, 25-12 then faced Northland, beating them 25-20, 25-9 to set up a championship match with host Hill City. In that contest the Vikings won the first game 25-17, lost the second 26-24 and then won the tiebreaker 15-13.
With those wins the Vikings record went to 10-0 for the season.
Vikings down Moose Lake Willow River
On Tuesday, September 22, the Vikings hosted the Moose Lake/ Willow River squad and beat the Rebels 3-1.
Game one wasn’t much of a contest as the Vikings rolled to a 25-10 win. Everything was working, as the Vikings scored points almost at will while shutting down the Rebels.
Game two was probably the sloppiest game played by the Vikings this season. They flubbed easy sets, missed on serves, let balls drop uncontested into the middle of the court, and gave up a lot of easy points, something they haven’t done very often this season. Still, they made it competitive late, losing 25-19.
Moose Lake started to play better and made things interesting in the last two games, which the Vikings won 25-19 and 25-16, but the Vikings recovered from their game two vacation and weren’t going to let this match get away from them.
Meredith Sutton had a big night, finishing with 22 kills, many of those coming near the end of games. Linden Sutton was especially strong in games three and four, and ended her night with 11 kills, 5 solo blocks, 23 digs and 3 ace serves. Alex Slanga finished with 13 set assists and 4 ace serves, Raina Ryden 20 digs and 3 ace serves, Lily Gruber Schulz 7 solo blocks and Maddy Roy 20 set assists.
The Vikings are now 11-0 and get a bit of a rest. They play Lakeview in Cotton (Lakeview doesn’t have a gym) on September 29 then play away games at South Ridge on October 1 and play in a tournament at Two Harbors on October 3 before coming home October 6 to face the Silver Bay Mariners. Game time starts at 6:30 p.m.
Come out and cheer on your Vikings!
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