---

North Branch swept a pair of conference matches last week, and they kept their unblemished Mississippi 8 mark in tact to continue on a crash course with Monticello for the conference title.

North Branch 3, Cambridge-Isanti 1

The Vikings led off the week at home against M8C foe Cambridge-Isanti on Tuesday, September 26. The Bluejackets surprisingly took the first set from North Branch, winning 25-21.

But, the Vikings’ rebounded in a big way, winning the next three sets 25-16, 25-18 and 25-16, suffocating the Bluejackets’ offense and executing in system to score easy points.

Dakota Esget led North Branch with 14 kills and 15 digs while Sophia Benedict, Jo Bartkey and Avery Smith teamed up to make a formidable middle. The trio combined for 24 kills, eight digs, and four blocks. Benedict also had two aces.

Jenna Minke set up her teammates well, with 32 assists and 19 digs. She also had four aces and four kills on the night in a great all around performance.

North Branch 3, Zimmerman 1

The Vikings again started slow, dropping the first set to the Thunder on Thursday, September 28, but their offense got rolling in the second set and couldn’t be stopped.

Zimmerman didn’t play bad in the next three sets, they just couldn’t handle the high powered swinging of Esget, Benedict and Bartkey. Those three had 40 combined kills as NB won the next three sets 25-21, 25-22, 25-23.

The team had 13 aces, led by Benedict and Heidi Hedberg at four each. Minke added 36 assists and five kills. Bartkey also added four solo blocks on the night from her middle position.

Monticello on the horizon

North Branch has two more conference games left before their potential showdown with Monti for the Mississippi 8 Conference title. Both teams are 5-0 so far. North Branch needs to get through Princeton, who they played earlier this week, but they swept the Tigers in a tournament just last month, and the St. Francis Saints on Tuesday, October 10. St. Francis hasn’t won a conference game yet and is 1-13 on the year. The two teams have a combined 1-10 M8C record.

Monti played St. Francis earlier this week and will square up with Becker, who is 2-2 in M8C play on Tuesday, October 10.

If both teams make it through those tests, they’ll play on Monday, October 16 with the Mississippi 8 Conference title on the line. The Magic won it last year and NB finished second.

---