The Vikings lost to the Barnum Bombers on September 30, but bounced back to defeat North Shore rival Silver Bay Mariners at home on Tuesday, October 5. Clockwise from upper left: Dig! Bekah Laky shows how it is done. Teamwork in action—Bekah Laky, Ashley Deschampe and Chelsea Sorenson prepare for the return. Kristina Rude tips the ball over the net. “Rudi” led the Vikings with 17 digs and 4 set assists.
The Cook County Viking volleyball team is off to its best start in many years, posting an 11-2 record going into Thursday night’s game against the McGregor Mercuries. The Vikings traveled to Barnum and lost a closer-than-it-looks 3-0 match to the Bombers but came back to sweep the Silver Bay Mariners.
It was a long trip to Barnum, but it was a much longer trip home after a disappointing loss on a night when Coach Taylor thought the Vikings didn’t come to play. The Vikings got behind early and could not get things going as the Bombers closed out the win in three games, 25-20, 25-20, 25-23.
Both teams came in with good records, fighting over the number two spot in the Polar League behind Esko. The Vikings started out slow and could not get any flow throughout the entire match, though, as Barnum played a much cleaner game. Again, miscommunication led to difficulties in the back row, but poor passing ended up being the downfall of the Vikings. Twenty-six serve-receive errors made life difficult on the setters and the hitters, not allowing anyone to get into a groove. TheBombers didn’t blow the Vikes away but instead the Vikings beat themselves for the second time this year.
The Vikings were led in the match by Kristina Rude’s 12 assists and 16-17 serving, including 2 ace serves. Brea “Boom” Boomer and Ashley “Dish” Deschampe tallied eight kills apiece and Boomer added 22 digs but also led the team with seven receiving errors. The loss dropped the Vikings to 9-2, but more importantly it was the second Polar League loss, making things difficult for the Vikes to win a conference title.
The Vikings bounced back in a big way on Tuesday night when the North Shore neighbor Silver Bay Mariners came to town. The Vikings took no mercy on the visitors, cruising to an easy 3-0 win, 25-16, 25-16, 25-18.
The Vikings have had problems lately starting out slowly, but with more focus on this, the Vikes jumped on the Mariners right away. A quick serving streak by Dish got the Vikings off on the right foot but the pesky Mariners came back strong, tying the game at 10-10. The Vikings went on a run, though, highlighted by ground-shakers by Dish and Boom, while Ali Iverson scored a big ace block to put the game away 25-16.
Game two started similarly, but the Vikings were able to maintain control throughout, dominating with good passing and nice hitting. Back row players Chelsey Sorenson and CeCe Olsen fed the ball to the setters with accurate and soft passes. Although the Mariners picked up the intensity and hustle, which led to many long volleys, they couldn’t match the Vikings’ ferocity at the net.
The clinching game was dominated from the beginning by the Vikings. Deschampe rolled on another serving streak, which was followed by another one by Kristina “Rudi” Rude to completely shut the door on Silver Bay. Rudi led the Vikings with 17 digs and 14 set assists, with Boomer 12 digs and leading the team with 12 kills.
Just like every coach, Pam Taylor still wasn’t completely pleased with her team’s effort, but conceded they played “better.” A positive sign for the Vikings was their communication and passing, which has been a killer in the past two weeks. The win moves the Vikings to 11-2, with five games remaining. The Vikings look to close out the year strong and put themselves in a good position moving towards the Section 7A playoffs. If they move, talk, and pass like they did against the Mariners, they are definitely heading in the right direction.
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