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When the North Branch Lady Vikings hosted the Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackjets last week in a big Mississippi 8 Conference match up, there was a lot more at stake than the Highway 95 rivalry. There was a possible conference championship involved for both teams. Cambridge-Isanti entered unbeaten in the M8C while North Branch only had one loss.

North Branch had defeated C-I earlier this year in the Duluth East Tournament, so bragging rights were also going to play a part.
By the end of the night, those rights belonged to Cambridge-Isanti, as they came away with a big sweep of the Vikings, despite some thrilling matches.

In the first set, the Jackets and Vikings played very evenly through the first 15 points. But, errors by the Vikings left them vulnerable and a good team like C-I was able to take advantage of them. The Bluejackets finished out the set on a 9-4 run, winning 25-18.
In the second set, Cambridge-Isanti kept rolling early on. They took a 9-2 lead at one point, and it looked like the set was going to quickly go to the Jackets.

North Branch didn’t quit though. Behind some impressive serving by Cassie Kunshier and some big hits from Katy Trunk, the Vikings battled their way back into the match, tying it up at 14.

Howver, the Vikings again faded as the set began to wear into the 20s, and the Bluejackets again finished the set with a win, 25-21.
The third set is where things truly got wild in the match up. The two teams were tied at 10 early on, but North Branch took a four point lead on some scrappy, hard-fought points.

Courtney Selbitschka, who had struggled early in the match, started to catch fire and put some big hits down.
The Vikings found themselves up 21-17 before C-I won the next two points to trim the lead to 21-19. But, North Branch kept fending off the C-I attack.

Maddy Kunshier put a big spike to the gym floor to put NB back up 22-19. North Branch eventually found themselves one point away from the win at 24-23, but C-I’s big hitter Claire Sheehan was in the front row.

The Bluejackets kept feeding Sheehan with the game on the line, and she came through for two big points to put C-I up 25-24.
On the deciding point, there was an unfortunate miscommunication by the some North Branch players that led to an easy point and a big come-from-behind victory for C-I, 26-24.

The loss dropped North Branch out of contention for the M8C championship, but Head Coach Mike Selbitschka wasn’t disappointed. “We know we can play with them,” he told his team after the match. “They came in here and they beat us, but we’re still a good team.”

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