Left: As Linden Sutton looks on, Ali Iverson uses a light touch to tap the ball over the net to score a point against Silver Bay in the first home volleyball game of the season on Tuesday, September 4. Above left: Rachel Wieben gets ready to spike the ball on this play against the Silver Bay Mariners. Wieben had a great day of all-around play on the court. Above right: Theresa Morrin made a great save on this ball, as Abbey Sutton gets ready to take the bump. The Vikings got the win over Silver Bay in five exciting games.
The Cook County High School girls’ volleyball team picked up two wins in its first two outings, although both matches were almost too close for comfort.
First up for the Vikes was a trip to Duluth Marshall on August 30 to face the Hilltoppers.
Hitting on all cylinders, the Vikings took the first game 25-8 and it looked like it was going to be a short night.
“But then the girls stopped moving their feet. They stopped talking to each other on the court and they didn’t play well at all,” said Head Coach Pam Taylor.
That led to a 25-23 loss and the match was even. The third game was like the second game, only this time the Vikings squeezed out a 26-24 victory. Up two games to one, the Vikings closed out the match 25-15.
Ali Iverson led the Vikings with 7 kills, 3 aces and 1 block. Theresa Morrin had 6 kills and 3 aces and Rachel Wieben had 4 kills. Ninth-grader Linden Sutton, making her first start on varsity, had a stellar game with 5 service aces and 4 kills, while her sister Abbey, a junior, served 5 aces and had 5 kills. Sarah Deschampe also had 3 aces for the evening and Anna Carman had a fine all around night of play.
“The girls need to learn to communicate better on the court. They don’t have any trouble communicating off the court, but they need to learn to talk to each other on the court,” said Taylor, adding, “But at least it was a win. We didn’t play particularly well, but we won the match.”
Silver Bay came to town on Tuesday, Sept. 4, and along with the thunder and lightning outside (which was causing quite a ruckus), brought a little of their own thunder and lightning into the gym, causing a different kind of ruckus. Luckily the girls from CCHS possessed just enough pizzazz of their own to escape with a win.
After losing the first game 25-22, the Vikings realized they were in for a long night.
“We weren’t communicating or moving our feet,” said Coach Taylor, repeating what she had said about the Marshall game.
Stephanie Lashinski started the second game and made her presence felt at the net, making many fine blocks. Anna Carman’s steady serving to start the second game set the tone, and the Vikings were up 5-0 before Silver Bay scored behind their big hitter, 6’1” Alicia Noppola, who spanked one back across the net that was too hot for the Vikings to handle.
The Vikes went up 6-1 before the Mariners began to come back, finally bringing the score to 7-7 before the younger Noppola served into the net, giving the Vikings an 8-7 lead. Ali Iverson stopped the carnage with two aces and Taylor Ryden spiked a return of her own to give the Vikings an 11-7 lead.
Silver Bay came back to within 3 points at 14-11, but the Vikings were able to hold on and win the game 25-17.
The third game was again a lot of give and take as each team made nice runs before being thwarted, often-times by poor serving. Lashinski, Iverson, Ryden and Abbey Sutton were strong at the net, but the play on the back line was sometimes ragged, and once again a lack of communication led to many Silver Bay points. Still, the Vikings took the game 25-19.
With the match on the line, the Vikings hoped to win the third game and call it a night, but the Mariners fought hard and took the game 25-21.
The fifth and deciding game was 7-7 when the Vikings finally made a run and took an 11-7 lead. Both Taylor Ryden and Abbey Sutton made clutch plays at the net and Theresa Morrin and Sarah Deschampe made some fine plays to close out the Mariners 15-11. Two tough nights but two “Ws” in the win column.
The Vikings played Esko on September 6 and will face Floodwood on Thursday, September 13 at home. Varsity action starts at 6:30 p.m.
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