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The North Branch tennis team dug outside of the North Suburban Conference for their latest win.

With a much slower-paced schedule than the week before, the Vikings were able to squeak out a win over the Mora Mustangs on Wednesday, May 14, and lost a tough match to the Princeton Tigers on Friday, May 16.

North Branch 4, Mora 3

After the first three singles players fell, it looked as if Mora was going to run away with a win over North Branch. But, Brady Noreen kept the Vikings in it with a 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5) win at fourth singles.

Needing a sweep from the doubles tandems to win, only one of the matches was smooth sailing. Travis Heilig and Aaron Good earned a big win at first doubles 7-5, 6-2.

The next two difficult matches were a test of the Vikings' conditioning and heart.

In the penultimate match, Brandon Sonnenfeld and Brandt Rasmussen lost the first set 3-6, but they dug down for an impressive performance over the next two sets, winning 6-2, 6-2 to take the match.

At third doubles, the duo of Joel Cramblet and Tyler Cosgrove fought their way back from a 3-6 loss in the first set also. After the loss, the two trampled to a 6-0 win in the second set, and then ever so gracefully won a 7-6 (7-3) nail-biter to clinch the match.

"This was a very fun match to watch," Coach Chad Brusky said. "It really speaks to the 'never give up' attitude of this group of boys."

Princeton 5, NB 2

The Vikings got off to a better start in this match against Princeton, but they couldn't finish like they did against the Mustangs, losing 5-2 on Friday, May 16.

Nick Lambrecht won at first singles, defeating Tiger Logan Villebrun in three sets, 4-6, 6-4, 10-8. The rest of his singles mates didn't fare well, and the Vikings were looking at a 3-1 deficit going into doubles again.

After the exhaustive come-from-behind victories on Wednesday, some of the Vikings' doubles teams didn't have enough gas in the tank to get to the finish line.

Sonnenfeld and Rasmussen, however, did score another thrilling come-from-behind win as they dropped the first set 0-6, but came back for dominant 6-2, 6-1 wins in the next two sets.

"This was a tough match for us. Many of the matches were closer than the score reflects," Brusky noted. "Many duece games were played, and a few missed shots here and there hurt us. As a team, we are working on that consistency and playing the big points."

North Branch, the number-six seed, began sectional play on Wednesday, May 21 with a first-round matchup against the number-two seeded Andover Huskies.

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