Above: Morgan Mixdorf was in perfect position to bump this ball to her frontline in the game against Esko last Tuesday night. After four long games, the 3A school with the big lineup won, but just barely. Right: Jessica Berg-Collman made a nice set on this play to Linden Sutton. Far right: Anna Carman bumped the ball over the net against Esko. Players on the Viking team stepped up their play against the Eskimos in a highly entertaining, well-played match.
The Vikings upped their record to 3-1 with victory over the Two Harbors Agates on Thursday, September 12 in a match played in Two Harbors.
“We came out and played really well,” said Head Coach Pam Taylor.
The Vikings swept the Agates in three games by the scores of 25-11, 25-15 and 25-7.
“Maddie (Roy) served 13 points in a row in the third game, and Morgan (Mixdorf) came in and played a good solid all-around game,” said Coach Taylor.
Vikings fall to Giants
Playing at home, the Vikings took early leads in the first two games against the Mesabi East Giants last Monday night, September 16, going up 9-3 in the second game, but each time Mesabi came back behind big kills by Britta Erie (9k) and Alex Cromley (9k) to take those games 25-15, 25-16, and then took game three 25-15 to sweep the Vikes 3-0 in the match.
“We had 25 hitting errors and gave up 10 points on net calls,” said Coach Taylor. “We had too many mental errors. We beat ourselves. The kids just have to learn to have more confidence in themselves.”
Anna Carman finished the match with 11 digs and Morgan Mixdorf ended her night with 10 digs. Linden Sutton finished with 6 kills and Madison Roy had 9 serve assists.
Hard-fought loss to Esko
One night after having one of their worst matches, the Vikings took the floor against a mighty 3A Esko team and played their best volleyball to date.
The Vikings’ average height is about 5’5” in their lineup. Esko averages about 5’10” with the 6’5” Molly Trapp anchoring its front line.
Early in the first game the Vikings took a 4-3 lead with Sarah Deschampe serving. Deschampe had served for two points when officials called a time out. After some discussion Esko was given the ball and the 2 points the Vikings had just earned and the score went 5-3 to Esko. The four-point swing proved to be crucial in a game that the Vikings led 23-20 only to lose 25-23.
The second game was another highly competitive affair with the Vikings repeatedly digging the ball off the floor and returning it back to Esko. In one sequence Maddy Roy took a hard spike off the floor and hit it to Jessica Berg-Collman, who set it up for Linden Sutton. Sutton slammed the ball past 6’5” Molly Trapp and her teammate, 5’ 10” Christaia Houser. That play got the gym rocking.
Back and forth the two teams went, but with the score tied at 21 Esko went on a run to win 25-21.
Down two games in a best of five match, it would have been easy for the Vikings to give up. With Esko taking an 18-15 lead it looked like the Vikings might be out of energy in the third game. But the Vikings mounted a comeback, tying the score 21-21, and then went on a run of their own, winning 25-22.
Esko dominated the last game. The Vikings fell 25-16. But even in this match, down 22-11, the Vikings rallied to make it interesting.
For the match Breanna Peterson had 12 digs Linden Sutton 10 kills and 18 digs. Madison Roy finished the night with 11 set assists and 12 digs.
Houser led Esko with 16 kills and 8 digs.
Truly, though, all of the Vikings who played— Jessica Berg-Collman, Anna Carman, Megan Lehto, Jamie Sjogren, Carrie Palmer, Sarah Deschampe, and Morgan Mixdorf—had big moments on the floor. Going forward, it will be interesting to see if the Vikings can play together this well as a unit on a consistent basis. If they do, the small players with big hearts can go far.
The Vikings’ next seven games are on the road. They won’t play at home again until October 8 against Barnum. The varsity takes the floor at 6:30 p.m.
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