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In North Branch’s final team huddle after Cambridge-Isanti clinched the  state tournament berth, some girls cried, some offered words of encouragement, some just stewed quietly. But they all had one thing in common on that gym floor: they left it all out there in their section finals game, the final game of a few of the girls careers.

The Vikings and Bluejackets took part in an epic five-set section final match that had huge emotional swings both ways and left the packed fans of both schools weary and hoarse.

The match was played at neutral Chisago Lakes High School, but it didn’t matter, both schools were making the trek, even if the game was played on another continent. Cambridge-Isanti had never qualified for the state tournament in volleyball before and North Branch hadn’t made it to the big dance in 20 years.

The Bluejackets were led by sophomore Claire Sheehan and seniors Korbyn Felde and Sidney Larkin. They took an early commanding lead in the first set. They weren’t making any mistakes and it looked like they were going to be a tough team to beat on the night.

The Bluejackets took the first set fairly easily, 25-16.

In the second set, things went very similar early on. Sheehan knocked the ball around with  nasty force and North Branch just didn’t have an answer for her. The Jackets sped to a 10-3 lead in the second set, leaving North Branch reeling.

To the girls’ and their coaches’ credit, however, they didn’t give up. North Branch made a big run to trim the lead to 13-11, using Sheehan’s power against her on the block while North Branch’s Courtney Selbitschka started to power down her own spikes.

The game stayed separated by two points until back-to-back Cambridge-Isanti errors led to a 19-19 tie. North Branch took their first lead of the night by winning the next four points on a mix of great Selbitschka serves and some  kills from Maddy Kunshier and Kelsey Allaman. Martinson came up with another big spike to put the Vikes up 24-20 and on the brink of the set win. Cassie Kunshier finished the comeback off with a great serve, giving NB the 25-20 win and evening the sets at one apiece.

“The girls came back by continuing to work for the goal we set,” Head Coach Mike Selbitschka said. “Also, we kept all emotions in check and worked together as a team!  We knew we could compete, as long as we all did our job and we kept our offense rolling.”

“I don't think we played to poorly in set one, C-I just played at a very high level the whole first set and early on in the second set,” Assistant Coach Ron Trunk said. “At that point they started to make a few errors and that gave our girls  some hope.”

In the third set, the Vikings didn’t start slow as in the other two. They stayed even through six and took a 9-7 lead after Selbitschka served some beautiful points.

But then C-I came alive and started firing.

The Bluejackets went on a 9-1 run to go back up 16-10. The run was punctuated by a line call that had the whole North Branch team, as well as the coaching staff, staring at the referee in disbelief with his call.

The Vikings needed something to give them a jolt of energy and they got just that from a terrible mistake by the Jackets. Sheehan swung away at a ball with the Jackets up 16-10, and Cassie Kunshier dug it out, but shanked the ball to the side. The Lady Vikes scrambled to get to the ball and made it, but had to put a bump 30 feet in the air to get it over the net. They were just hoping to be able to get back into position to receive a C-I spike. However, a miscommunication on the Bluejacket side allowed the sky high ball to drop for an easy point for North Branch.

The Vikings used the momentum to creep back into the set, getting it to within one at 19-18. North Branch finally took the lead back at 24-23 after a well-placed tip by Emily Merchant and a carry by C-I.

The lead didn’t last long, though, as a big spike and an ace put the Jackets up 25-24.

With the game on the line, C-I was whistled for a double carry, but the gym was so loud that neither team heard the whistle and kept playing. At 26-26, Selbitschka came to serve, and she had been on point all night. She rocketed the first serve off of a C-I defenders’ hands to put NB up 27-26, and she put the next one in a tough spot so the Bluejackets had to scramble to return it. Allaman finished the Jackets off with a monster kill, putting North Branch up 2-1 and one set away from the state tournament.

They couldn’t get it done in the fourth set, though.

They went behind early 7-1  just missing the lines and making minor errors. They battled back to 19-15 but that was as close as they’d get as C-I won the set 25-19 to force a fifth game.

At this point, neither fanbase was in their seats. And both teams were screaming with every point. This game was the culmination of a year’s worth of work for both teams.

The teams leaned on their prime time players early and often as Sheehan and Selbitschka both had big kills early in the set.

Everything was on the line for these girls. At one point early in the set, a Cambridge-Isanti defender had to lean into the crowd to bump a ball out that had been passed too wide.

North Branch got the first lead of set midway through. At 6-6, Selbitschka rocketed a back-row attack over the net that dropped and put NB up 7-6. On the next point, Katy Trunk, (who had an injured hand taped all game and reinjured in it the fourth set), came up with a big block to put NB up 8-6.

With only six points standing between the Vikes and the state tournament, Sheehand asserted herself and put a stop to it. She had four kills over the next eight points, leading C-I on a 7-1 run and putting them up 13-9. Trunk stemmed the tide with a kill of her own, but Sheehan answered right back with her fifth in a 10-point stretch,  and put the Vikings one point away from elimination. A tough serve on the final point sealed the game in favor of the Bluejackets, 15-10, and sent the C-I side into a frenzy.

North Branch quickly huddled up on their side of the court to console each other in this tough time, and despite the tears that began to flow, they stayed dignified throughout the second place ceremony and watched the Jackets celebrate the win.

“It was such an exciting atmosphere, a large, vocal crowd, pep band and huge momentum swings both ways,” Trunk said. “It was an emotional roller coaster.”

“I thought the girls did a fantastic job of controlling emotions,” Selbitschka said. “Even during tough times, they held their head up and moved on to the next play. We discussed before the game, to leave it all on the court and not to leave a ‘what if’.”

Selbitschka knows it will be a game that will go down in NB history. “The girls did an amazing job of working together as a team. There was a ton of memorable points earned on both sides,” he said. “I believe the game could've gone either way as both teams gave it everything they had. It will be a game our girls, school, and fans will remember for a very long time!”

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