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North Branch and Grand Rapids have been taking circuitous routes to a head-on collision this year.

The Vikings started a bit slow, missing their top player Courtney Selbitschka, as she recovered from a knee injury. But, since she has been fully integrated back into the lineup, the Vikings are on a roll, including winning a five-set thriller over Mississippi 8 power,  St. Michael-Albertville.

Meanwhile, the Thunderhawks of Grand Rapids have buzzed along smoothly, going to 18-0, feasting mostly on smaller northern schools.

But, the two teams knew they could potentially play each other in the Duluth East Tournament last weekend if they performed well.

They both did their job and made it to the championship game to jockey for early favorite for the Section 7AAA title.

After all the build up, however, the game itself was a bit anti-climactic with North Branch winning in straight sets in a fairly one-sided affair. The Selbitschka sisters established dominance early and kept the pressure on the Thunderhawk block all night. The pair combined for 21 kills, four aces and six digs in a 25-19, 25-22 sweep.

Morgen Coleman, who broke North Branch’s school assist record earlier in the week, had 25 assists and two kills.

Earlier in the tournament, the Vikings dominated pool play. They beat Deer River in the first game 25-16, 26-24. In the second game, the Lady Vikes dominated a Wisconsin team from Ashland, 25-19, 25-14.

Once they entered bracket play, it took the Vikings a little extra time to beat Duluth East in the first set, as they won 26-24, but they breezed past the Greyhounds in the second set 25-15.
That set up the match up with Rapids in the finals.

North Branch 3, Buffalo 0
The Lady Vikings swept the Bison on Thursday, October 1, but the night belonged to Coleman.

The previous school record for assists was 1,806 and it was set in 1992. Coleman broke the record by putting up 32 assists on the night and breaking it by two. She finished the game with 1,808 career assists.

Courtney Selbitschka was the main benefactor of most of those assists, as she had 19 kills on a night when her sister did not play. Kelsey Allaman stepped up nicely from her middle hitter position, putting down eight kills.

The Vikings are coming down the home stretch and they have one giant test still ahead of them. Tuesday, October 13, they’ll travel to Cambridge to take on the Bluejackets in a huge match up. A win would almost certainly guarantee the Vikings a share of the Mississippi 8 Conference championship and it would also be sweet revenge since C-I beat North Branch in the section finals last year to go to the state tournament.
The first serve will be at 7 p.m.

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