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The girls faced a stiff challenge in the Becker Bulldogs in their opening match.

The Bulldogs lived up to their canine name with a ferocious bite that backed up their nasty bark. Becker flew out to a 25-12 win in the first set, and they didn't let up on the Vikings when they sensed weakness in the second set, winning 25-13.

The Lady Vikings could've easily gotten down after the opening loss, but they rebounded quite nicely. The Crosby-Ironton Rangers were up next for North Branch, and they opened up their game a little more to earn a win.

After winning a first set that went down to the wire at 25-23, the Vikings struggled to keep the Rangers at bay in the second set. Using powerful spikes and pinpoint passes, the Rangers took the second set at a clip of 25-21.

In the third and deciding set, the Vikings gathered themselves and regained the momentum just in time. Quick scores led to a 15-8 win for the Vikings and evened their record up on the day at one win and one loss.

Their third game against Princeton was eerily similar to their second game against Crosby-Ironton.

After taking down the first set by a score of 25-19 over the Tigers, the Vikings found themselves behind in the second set. Although the were able to bump and set their way to a close match, the black-and-orange clad Tigers knotted the match up at one set apeice.

The Vikings again, however, steadied themselves and their play and came out fast and strong in the deciding third set. After grabbing an early lead, North Branch came away with a 15-8 victory in the last set to go to 2-1 on the day.

"Both matches took three games to win, but we showed poise in both game threes," Head Coach Kari Francis said. "We didn't get rattled and stayed calm during the deciding matches, which showed improvement from earlier matches this year."

In their last match of the day, the Vikings played a tough match against St. Cloud Apollo. The Eagles didn't have much trouble disposing of the young Vikings. North Branch was swept in two sets, 25-16, 25-19.

"We kept it close, but struggled to finish in both games," Francis explained.

North Branch 3, Robbinsdale Cooper 0

The Vikings earned a valuable conference win with a clean sweep over the Robbinsdale Cooper Hawks on Tuesday, Oct. 7.

The girls brought the fire and intensity down from the Mora Tournament earlier in the week and used it to blast the Hawks.

In the first set, Cooper was able to stay relatively close as the Vikings piled up point after point. The set concluded with a 25-21 win for North Branch, and it was just the beginning of a long night for Cooper.

In the second set, the Vikings earned their biggest win of the night, downing the Hawks 25-17 behind their outside hitters, sophomore Morgan Leadens and junior Tiffany Anderson.

North Branch finished Cooper off in quick time with a 25-22 win in the third set, capping off their regular season with a big North Suburban Conference win. "We continued to bring our success with us against Cooper," Francis said. "It was our last regular season game before playoffs, and it was a great to finish the regular season on a high note. We continued to play focused for the entire match."

The seeding for the Vikings sub-section is on Wednesday night, after the County Press went to print. The girls will start their playoffs on Wednesday, Oct. 22, check out next week's County Press for the Vikings' first round opponent.

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