Upper left: Rachel Wieben made a great play on this ball against McGregor. Wieben, like the rest of her teammates, had a great all around game against a very talented McGregor Mercury team. Above right: In a tough, well-played match Cook County prevailed and beat the Mercuries. Celebrating the win were (L-R)Jessica Berg-Collman, Taylor Ryden and Ali Iverson and the entire Viking bench. Above left: Pam Taylor was honored for 30 years of coaching excellence and dedication to the kids of CCHS before the McGregor game.
Brian Larsen
Viking volleyball gave fans something to cheer about this week with exciting games against Silver Bay and McGregor at home.
Ali Iverson didn’t let an ankle sprain derail her too much on Thursday, October 4 when the Vikings traveled to Silver Bay to face the Mariners.
“Even though her ankle bothered her Ali played well. She led the team with 9 kills,” said Head Coach Pam Taylor.
The Vikings won three straight games against he Mariners to take the best of five series. But all of the games were close, 25-20, 25-21 and 25-18.
“Abi Sutton served really well for us, and Taylor Ryden played a great all around game,” Taylor said.
As the team nears the end of the regular season Taylor said she has told them to focus on starting to peak.“We don’t want to peak too early, but we need to start sharpening our play.”
Against Silver Bay, the Vikings started that process. “We were talking out there. We were moving our feet. It was nice to see,” Taylor said.
Good play at Two Harbors tournament
The Vikings traveled to Two Harbors on Saturday, October 6 to play in the Two Harbors tournament. Bad luck of the draw put the Vikings into matches against Eveleth and Duluth Denfeld while the other side of the draw featured Proctor, Silver Bay and Two Harbors, all teams the Vikings can beat.
First up was a two-game match against the Eveleth Golden Bears. “We lost both games but the kids played awesome,” said Coach Pam Taylor.
Next up was Denfeld, and again, said Taylor, “The kids played great volleyball but we lost both games. But both games were close.”
The last two games were played against Two Harbors, which the Vikings won.
“Overall I was very pleased with the way the kids played. All of the kids got to play and everyone played well. The kids are starting to come together. They are starting to play as a true team, playing unselfishly and playing for each other. We’re getting better and better at the right time of the year,” Taylor said.
McGregor match brings fans to their feet
Volleyball doesn’t get any better than it did last Tuesday night, October 9 when the MeGregor Mercuries came to town to face the Vikings.
The last time these teams met was at the Hill City tournament and McGregor came out on top. But on this night, playing in front of a raucous Homecoming crowd on an evening that was dedicated to Coach Pam Taylor’s 30 years of coaching at CCHS, the Vikings wouldn’t be denied. Not that McGregor ever let them have an easy time of it. Not at all.
With the first game tied 19 all, McGregor pulled away to win game 1 25-22.
Game two was tied at 8-8 when the Vikings’ offense just took off and left the Mercs in the dust 25-11. Theresa Morrin served the last 5 points of the game and Ali Iverson contributed several spectacular spikes.
It was more give and take during game three as each team fought long points for points. For the first time this year the Vikings kept their spacing throughout the games and talked to each on the floor. It was the same discipline displayed by the McGregor players. After a long game the Vikings won 25-20.
With the momentum and the crowd on the Vikings side it looked like they were going to close out the match in the fourth game. But no one told the McGregor players, and they took control of the game at 20-17 and went on to win 25-21. It was another well played game by kids on both sides of the net: Sarah Deschampe, Anna Carman and Jessica Berg-Collman all made great saves in the backcourt while Taylor Ryden—playing a tremendous match all night long—and Iverson, Morrin, Abbey and Linden Sutton played tough at the net.
Game five was another tense filled contest and it looked like McGregor was going to take the best of five match when they were up 12-10. Theresa Morrin once again served and the Vikings stormed back to win 15-12, with Iverson making two vicious spikes on the 13th and 14th points. Game over. The Vikings walked over and shook the McGregor kids hands while the crowd gave both teams a standing ovation. It was a match to remember. Something to build upon as the team nears play-offs.
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