Paisley Smith (11) bumps the ball with Katie Peck (13) moving to the net to get ready to make a block in case the ball was spiked back. The Vikings have won their last two games as they get ready to begin playoffs. Staff photo
After getting just one win this season, the Vikings volleyball team, which has been steadily improving — won its last two regularly scheduled games of the season.
Cook County traveled to Wrenshall on Tuesday, October 8, to play the Wrens, and the Vikings prevailed in a barn-burner of a match, three games to two.
The Vikings fell in the first game 25-22 but bounced back to take game two 26-24.
Game three was a 25-10 blowout in favor of the Vikings, but the Wrens flew back into the picture, taking game four 25-17. That victory set up the pivotal game five, which goes to 15, but can go beyond that until one team wins by two points.
After both teams traded early leads, the Vikings hung on to win game five 15-13 to take their second win of the season.
For the game, Emmalli Myers had 11 kills and three ace serves. Molly Lavigne finished with 16 set assists and eight ace serves, and Alyssa Spry had an amazing 45 digs.
Vikings defeat Lakeview Christian Lions
With Morgan Starkey crouched and ready for a play, Charlet Waver went up and made a nice, soft tip on this ball much to the surprise of the defender who jumped too high for what was expected, no doubt, to be a spike. Staff photo
The Lakeview Christian Lions came to Grand Marais on Thursday, October 10, to take on the Vikings in the last home game of the season. It was a special night. Earlier in the day, Alyssa Spry had been named Homecoming Queen, the stands were full, and expectations were high that the Vikings could take their third win of the season.
Game one ended quickly as the Vikings jumped out to a big lead and never looked back, winning 25-19.
Just about the opposite occurred in game two as the Lions jumped out to a 10-4 lead and led 15-8 as each team traded points, often on unforced errors — serving long, serving short, or hitting it into the net off of a gentle bump and set.
The Vikings seemed to rally after a Katie Peck spike earned them their 13th point. Peck followed that nice spike with an ace serve, and the score was 14-18. The Lions rallied for two straight points to make it 20-14.
That led Viking head coach Marlene Wester to call a timeout to settle her team down. Coming out of the timeout, Morgan Starkey served back-to-back aces, and the Vikings picked up two points off a block in the frontcourt and an excellent touch play from Bianca Zimmer that landed in the deep corner. The Lions managed two points as well to lead 22-18. The score would go to 23-19, and 23-20 after the Lions hit long to give the Vikings back the serve.
With Alyssa Spry serving, the Vikings picked up two points to make it 23-22.
After a sweet volley by both teams, the Vikings hit long to make it 24-22. Once again, with the crowd behind them, the Vikings would rally to tie the score 24-24. The Lions would take their last lead 25-24 before the Vikings took the next three points to win an exciting game 27-25.
All of the fight seemed to leave the Lions following that second loss, and the Vikings rolled to a 25-10 third game victory to take a clean sweep.
Senior Alyssa Spry led the team with 16 digs. Bianca Zimmer ended her night with 11 digs and three ace serves and Morgan Starkey finished with six kills and six ace serves.
The playoffs now await the Vikings. Just whom they will play in Section 7A wasn’t known by the time this edition was put to bed.
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