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The North Branch volleyball team was challenged in two entirely different ways this past week. On one side was Zimmerman, a new program that is so young that the Thunder did not have one senior on their squad.

At the complete other end of the spectrum was Mora, the defending Rum River co-champs, once again stacked and poised to make a run. Two different teams, two different challenges, two wins.

North Branch 3

Zimmerman 0

Last Tuesday night, North Branch had no intentions of taking Zimmerman lightly. The Vikings had that attitude from the very beginning and never lost it, opening up with a 25-9 win before completing the sweep with two more victories, 25-11 and 25-15.

“We played well and win it in three games,” said North Branch head volleyball coach Jim VanEerden. “The big stat of the night was senior Katie Paulson serving 11 aces.”

That pin-point accuracy helped North Branch to their third win in a row and their sixth over their last seven.

Game One:

North Branch 25, Zimmerman 9

Game Two:

North Branch 25, Zimmerman 11

Game Three:

North Branch 25, Zimmerman 15

North Branch statistics:

Paulson- 11 aces

North Branch 3

Mora 1

It didn’t have the feeling of a regular season game, this rivalry has grown into so much more.

To get an idea of the history between North Branch and Mora, all you need to do is to revert back to last season. Both squads tied for the Rum River conference town, only to meet in the playoffs where the Vikings ended the Mustangs season. Mora wanted revenge and North Branch knew it.

However, early in the match, the Vikings were the one’s playing with all of the emotion. Stacked up front, the Vikings controlled the net, leading to a 25-19 win in game one and a 25-15 spanking in game two, giving North Branch a two games to none lead.

“Mora is very well coached, and we knew it would be a battle,” said VanEerden. “Because of our size, we figured we had an advantage at the net, so we made a goal to pass and cover the court as well as Mora does. I was very pleased with the results.”

Why not? After Mora battled back to win the third game 25-23, the Vikings dismantled the Mustangs down the stretch, blowing past the defending co-champs in the fourth game, taking the game and the match three games to one.

“I really like the progress of our back row passers,” mentioned VanEerden. “Katie Paulson and Kelsey Vichorek, you can see their confidence building since the start of the season.”

That can also be said about the Vikings as a whole. Not mentioned as one of the conference favorites coming into the season, North Branch is now 2-1 in conference with huge wins over Mora and Chisago Lakes. Up next for the Vikings is another key Rum River battle on Thursday versus Big Lake.

Game One:

North Branch 25, Mora 19

Game Two:

North Branch 25, 15

Game Three:

Mora 25, North Branch 23

Game Four:

North Branch 25, Mora 20

North Branch statistics:

Kaity Vichorek: 8 kills

Brown: 6 kills

Fairbanks: 21 assists

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