Vikings come out on top after tough match-up

The North Branch Vikings volleyball team won its first two matches to open the season with a 2-0 record.
In its season opening match Aug. 27 against Totino Grace, the Vikings pulled out the win 3 games to 1.
The scores were 14-16, 15-13, 15-13, 15-4.
ìIt was a tough, grind-it-out match against a taller Totino team,î said coach Jim Van Eerden. ìI was very happy how our team played the first match of the year.î
The team served at 94 percent and was consistent at keeping the ball in play.
Sarah Rauen led the team with 25 kills. Rachel Brown brought in 13 kills.
Sheena Devine showed her strengths at setter and had 39 assists with only 2 errors.
ìOne pleasant surprise was the defense of middle blocker Jenny Anderson,î Eerden said.
ìShe had five big blocks and really affected how Totino attacked out of the middle,î he said. ìIt was a great start to the year.î
Eerden was thinking about how the team could improve its performance shortly after the game ended.
ìOne area that needs work is putting a team away once we get a lead,î he said.
The team pulled out that kind of offense in the fourth game, which ended 15-4, but the teamís focus wasnít as strong in the first three games.
ìWe need to learn that no lead is safe until the game is over,î Eerden said.
The second game, Aug. 29 against St. Francis, was not as close as the Totino match-up.
North Branch dominated and went 15-12, 15-6, 15-8 for the night, shutting out St. Francis 3-0.
Early on in the game, the Vikings had a hard time getting into a good serving rhythm and servers committed three errors and had trouble keeping the ball in play.
Another downfall was the loss of Jenny Anderson when she suffered a sprained ankle in game one.
Andersonís replacements, Kaity Vikorek and Katie Zangs did a great job filling in for Anderson and helped push the Vikings on to victory.
Rauen lead the team again with 11 kills and Brown added eight of her own.
Devine had 30 assists and six kills.

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