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Last week was a tough one for the Wildcat volleyball team.

On Tuesday, Oct. 4, Chisago Lakes traveled to Spring Lake Park to play the conference leading Panthers. The result was a 25-21, 23-25, 20-25, 12-25 defeat.

Despite the loss, head coach Nicole DeVries was very happy with her team’s performance. In fact, “This was the best we’d played all year. The first three games we played very well. But, we just couldn’t block their middle. She hit it everywhere in the last game. We handled everyone else,” said DeVries.

The coach sited stats (73 percent of digs 83 percent on serve receive and 30 kills) to back up her assessment of the team’s play. While she felt the whole team played well, the coach singled out setter Kristen Tengwall for her play. DeVries also praised Morgan Baumgard and Jamie Tschida for their work on defense.

North Branch 3, Chisago Lakes 0

Thursday, Oct. 6, the Wildcats played at North Branch.. The result was an 11-25, 10-25, 24-26 loss. Coach DeVries was not nearly as pleased with her team’s effort as she was against Spring Lake Park.

“We played poorly,” the coach said. “I’m not upset by the loss. But, I’m disappointed that we took a step backward. We had too many missed serves and other errors. We’ll have to put it back together for our next game.”

North Branch dominated the first two games and led 24-19 in game three before the Wildcats mounted a serious challenge. However, with rally scoring, it’s very difficult to make up that much ground. Chisago Lakes did manage to tie the game at 24 before the Vikings won the last two points.

Krista Swanson was singled out for her play in this match. She had, “One of her best defensive games,” according to the coach. Devries also praised the leadership exhibited by her seniors, Ashlee Lange, Andi Gordon and Chelsey Swanson.

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