Cece Olsen goes low to bump the ball and set up her teammates in their match against Cherry. Despite playing a great match the Vikings fell to the Cherry Tigers in five games. It is the second year in a row that Cherry has halted the Vikings season in the play-offs.
The Cook County Vikings took an 18-game winning streak into the Section Semifinals against the defending Section champion Cherry Tigers. The Vikings were looking for revenge as the Tigers beat the Vikes in last year’s championship game. What ensued was possibly the most thrilling volleyball game I’ve ever seen.
The Vikings, as they have all season, started out slow. Cherry’s senior leader Taylor Sauter started out the scoring with a kill. A Sarah Fagerman kill and Ali Iverson block brought the Vikings to within two, but three straight errors left the Vikes looking at a 10-17 deficit.
Tall sophomore middle hitter Kacey Herring hammered one down to give the Tigers a 23-12 lead, but there was fight left in the Vikings. A Theresa Morrin kill, followed by an Iverson block, followed by a string of Anna Carmen serves and the Vikes were right back in it. But back-to-back Macey Etter kills gave Cherry a big game one 25-19 win.
With a little momentum building, Cook County came out much sharper in game two. A pair of Cherry tips got them going, but back and forth action followed, highlighted by a Bekah Laky ace serve that gave the Vikings a 6-5 lead. The experienced Tigers came roaring back, riding the hot hand of Herring to take an 11-16 lead. In almost the exact same position as game one, the Vikings picked up their play much sooner in mounting a comeback.
Sarah Fagerman (6) gets ready in case Abbey Sutton (7) sets the ball to her in the girls’ recent match against Cherry.
A back row kill by Ashley “Dish” Deschampe, followed by an Iverson tip brought the Vikings into the fray. Laky toed the line and nailed a couple of ace serves, mixed in with another Dish kill and a Taylor Ryden tip and the Vikings took the lead 21-19. Cherry came back strong and bore down to tie it up, before back-to-back Viking errors gave the game to the Tigers at 22-25.
Down 0 games to 2 and with only a little momentum shift, things looked bleak. The Vikes jumped out quickly and built a 9-4 lead. A heavy dose of Dish and Iverson gave the Vikes the lead, but when they rotated into the back row, the Tigers mounted their own rally to tie the game and eventually take the lead 10-12.
Ashley Deschampe had numerous “kills” in the match against Cherry. Here, in a previous match, Ashley shows off her form as she goes up to spike a ball. The Vikes lost the last game 15-13 to the Cherry Tigers to end their season.
The Vikes fought back and there was a one point Tiger lead when they used two quick set and hits for a 20-17 lead. Threatening to sweep, the Tigers struggled to close it out, making three unforced errors, which was followed by a Morrin kill to give the Vikes a 22-21 lead.
After a crazy back and forth volley, Deschampe saved what looked like a definite kill off the wood to preserve the Vikes’ hopes. Iverson turned it into a 24-23 lead with a hammer in the center of the court. Leading by one, another mad scramble ensued, capped off by Iverson with a kill that deflected off the Tiger blockers for a game 3 win.
With a little more bounce in their steps and the earsplitting crowd behind them, the Vikings took the court. Cherry hastily took back the momentum, taking an early 8-4 lead. The lead stayed around 4-5 points up to a rally kicked off by a Morrin ace serve. Catching fire, Deschampe had four straight kills to give the Vikings an 18-14 lead. Cherry wasn’t done, even if it seemed like things were going in the Vikings favor.
A controversial net call went to the Tigers and they rallied to take the lead 21-20. Feeding the beast, the Vikes went back to Dish and she delivered, taking a set that was about 12 feet off the net and turning it into a point. Back and forth, it went, with scrappy action by both teams until the score was tied at 25. Morrin delivered a kill to put the Vikes one point away from a win, but the Tigers went to their leader Sauter for another kill to tie the game.
As the intensity picked up, the action became fiercer and teams traded leads until a mistake on a serve gave the Vikings a 28-27 lead. With tensions riding high, the Tigers were forced into another mistake and the Vikings won game four 29-27 to tie up the match at 2 games apiece and sent the crowd into a frenzy.
Both teams came on to the court, dragging a little from fatigue but with intensity in their eyes heading into the final game. A classic Iverson block got things going for a quick 1-0 lead. After an Etter kill tied it up, Dish nailed back-to-back kills to give the Vikes the lead.
The Tigers weren’t done, though, and stormed back to tie the game at 6. After a missed serve and a couple of Herring kills, the Vikings were staring at an 8-9 deficit. An unforced error tied the game and after a great volley, Iverson gave the Vikes the lead with a monster block in the face of a Tiger. Things started rolling with another Iverson kill, and an Anna Carmen save in the back row led to another point and a mysterious lift call and the Vikings were up 13-9.
Cherry regrouped in a timeout. A Herring kill and ace serve tightened up the score and the crowd’s emotions. The Vikings couldn’t manage to attack the Tigers on the next serve receive and they paid, as Sauter tipped one to a corner to tie the game up at 13. The next crucial point was a furious volley, with the Tigers finally setting it up and getting a clean swat at a spike. The ball sailed out of bounds and the Viking fans and players cheered, but it was called a tipped ball and the point went to the Tigers. An emotional swing swept through the gym and the Vikings were on their heels for the last serve of their season as DeAnn Bjerklie fired an ace for the final point.
The 13-15 loss ended the Viking season in heartbreak with a record of 21-2, one game short of the state tournament. Everyone there was treated to an epic match between two really great teams. It is often overstated that a team “left it all on the court” but I know that seeing both teams after the match, it could be said that no girl went home with anything left in the tank.
After an amazing year, the Vikings will have 3 girls, Ashley Deschampe, Bekah Laky, and Ali Iverson, playing in the Polar League All-Star series after being selected to the All- Conference team. More information will be available in next week’s edition about this.
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