November 3, 2005 at 7:21 a.m.
Vikings and Wildcats end volleyball seasons
Vikings and Wildcats end volleyball seasons
Game one was close, with the Vikings maintaining a three or four point advantage. Princeton closed the margin to two. The Vikings started to pull away when Princeton hit a ball into the net. Kaia Nyberg followed on a set from Cori Fairbanks to build the lead to 12-8. Megan Scherer scored off a Kacie Ramberg set to regain the four point margin at 13-9.
The Fairbanks to Scherer combination struck again to make it 16-12. The same duo pushed the lead to five at 18-13. The lead was six when Ramberg hit a crosscourt drive to bring the score to 19-13. A repeat Ramberg drive made it 20-14. The lead grew to eight on the strength of a Randi Zentner serve and the Tigers were done after a Fairbanks set to Kaia Nyberg. The final score of game one was 25-15.
A Jill VandenHeuvel tip gave the Vikings an early 3-0 lead in game two. Princeton fought back to 6-6. The Vikings came back to life when Fairbanks started setting Megan Ranger, who gave the Vikings a 12-7 lead with a series of spikes. The Tigers refused to fold and were back in the game and closed the margin to four when a Princeton serve hit the net and dropped among four Vikings. The score stood at 24-22 when North Branch head coach Kari Francis took a timeout. The Vikes responded with the game winner on a Nyberg set from Fairbanks. The final sore of game two was 25-22.
The Tigers quickly built a 3-0 lead in game three. North Branch fought back to take its first lead at 5-4. A VandenHuevel tip, a Nyberg hit and blocks from Nyberg and Vandenheuvel brought the Vikings a 19-13 lead. Princeton took a timeout at 21-14, but the Vikings kept rolling and won game three 25-16.
The three game sweep sent the Vikings to round two of the playoffs.
The Chisago Lakes volleyball team ended its season with a win and a loss in Section 7AA playoff action last week. On Monday, October 24 the Wildcats defeated Milaca 25-21, 25-21 and 25-19. October 26, the Forest Lake Rangers ended the Wildcat season with a win in Forest Lake.
“Our serve receive was just great against Milaca,” according to Wildcat head coach Nicole DeVries. “We had a good offensive game. We started blocking and that led to good things.” Once the Wildcat blocks put Milaca on the defensive, “We pounded the ball all over the place,” DeVries concluded.
At Forest Lake, just the opposite was true. “Serve receive was the problem,” said DeVries. Like most games with a net, the two most important aspects of the game are serve and serve receive. If a team doesn’t do a good job of either, it’s tough to win.
“Our setter Christine Tengwall, was great. But, you can’t set an overpass,” continued DeVries. “We played pretty good offense, but our setter just didn’t have a chance.”
The defeat ended the volleyball season for the Wildcats. However, only three of 13 team members are seniors, so the future looks bright for the team.
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