Emmalli Meyers, a 5’9” freshman middle hitter for the Vikings, goes up high to spike the ball in a recent home game. Staff photo
Senior laden Carlton Bulldogs brought their shiny 18-2 volleyball record to the Pam Taylor gym last Thursday, October 3, to face the 1-11 Vikings.
Of the 12 players who suit up for Carlton, 10 are seniors.
Carlton leads the large school Polar League Conference with a 6-0 mark, and the Bulldogs are ranked fourth in Class A state ratings. The young Viking team sports a 1-11 record and sits in 12th place in the large school Polar League 12-team conference.
Noticeable was the fact that Carlton isn’t tall. They don’t have a six-foot tall girl on the team. Still, they cover the court well, and a couple of their players have some high hops and get significant leverage on their spikes.
Starting for the Vikings were senior Bianca Zimmer, an outside hitter, Paisley Smith, a junior middle hitter, sophomores Molly LaVigne, a setter, Charlet Waver, a middle hitter, Morgan Starkey, an outside hitter, and freshman Katie Peck, an outside hitter.
Getting plenty of playing time in the rotation were seniors Paige Everson, a designated setter, Alyssa Spry, the team’s libero, sophomore Sadie Wilson, a designated setter, and ninth-grade middle hitter Emmalli Meyers.
At 5’10”, Paisley Smith is the tallest Viking player.
The first two games saw the Vikings scrambling hard, but the Bulldogs’ big three hitters, Taylor Nelson, Alaina Bennett, and Abby Mickle, had just enough power and court awareness to slam the ball past our blockers. When the Vikings’ front line attempted to block Carlton’s spikes, the Bulldogs’ offense would adjust, and bump or tap the ball to areas where it was hard for Viking defenders to make a good return.
The first two games were over fast, with the Bulldogs winning 25-13, 25-14. That set up game 3, which looked like it would be quick.
Carlton subbed in a couple of younger players for the third game, but the Bulldogs seemed to lose little court play in the transition. Still, the Vikings, who had been close to winning a lot of points in the first two games, were fired up for the third game, and came out and played maybe their best volleyball of the year.
Down 8-12, the Vikings rallied to tie the score 13-13. From that point on, the two teams traded points until the score was 20-20. The noise and the energy in the gym rose precipitously as the Vikings answered back each time Carlton scored.
Still, at 20-20, Carlton showed why it is the fourth-ranked team in the state. They settled down and reeled off the next five points to take the game and match 3-0.
Alyssa Spry led the Vikings with 22 digs. Charlet Waver had 10 digs, and three ace serves. Morgan Starkey finished with 13 digs and five kills.
Taylor Nelson, who had 10 kills, Alaina Bennett 10 kills, led Carlton, along with Brynne Mickle, who finished with 29 set assists, and Abby Mickle, who finished with seven kills.
Vikings fall to MIB
The Vikings played two-win Mountain Iron- Buhl (MIB) on Monday, October 7, at home and fell 3-1 in four close games. The Vikings lost the first game 25-19, won the second game 25-16, and lost 25-18, 25-18.
Wrenshall
On Tuesday, Oct. 8 the Vikings traveled to play three-win Wrenshall. The Wrens haven’t won any games in conference and sit behind the one-win Vikings in conference play.
The Vikings finish the regular season at home on Thursday, October 10 against Lakeview Christian Academy.
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