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On-court results took a back seat in the Chisago Lakes-North Branch volleyball game on Thursday, September 21 held at Chisago Lakes High School.

The night was designated Pink Out Night, and the main goal was to raise money for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Fans of each team were able to pledge an amount of money for each kill in the match, and all of it went towards charity. Although North Branch won the match, there were a lot of kills from both sides, and that added up to a nice donation of over $650!

The Wildcats actually rode the momentum from the Pink Out Night and being on their home court to a 25-22 win in the first set to jump out to an early lead.

But, North Branch, who is 9-3 on the season and has been a tough task for all of their opponents, ran off three consecutive set wins, 25-21-25-21 and 25-19 to take the win over the Wildcats.

For North Branch, Sophia Benedict led the way with 19 kills and outside hitter Dakota Esget added 17 big kills as the Vikings were able to stay in system and execute their offense effectively all night. Freshman setter Jenna Minke ended the night with 39 assists for the Lady Vikes.

On the ‘Cats side, Rebecca Norelius and Abby Zins led the way on offense. Norelius had 14 kills and Zins had 10. Zins also added four blocks.

Ella Weinzetl had 21 assists for the ‘Cats and she also had 14 digs and three aces from the service line. Sophia Al Khatib had a nice game on the block for CL, with six stuffs.

    

CHISAGO LAKES

The Wildcats followed up their county rivalry with a weekend tournament in Renville County West.

They went 1-2 during the tourney, with losses to the home team and Sibley East and a 2-0 win over Nicollet.

Norelius led the team with six kills in their win while sophomore Kayla Larsen had five and Al Khatib added four.

The Wildcats are now 7-7 on the year and are entering the bulk of their conference schedule. Outside of a tournament this weekend, seven of their last nine games are played within the Mississippi 8 Conference.

NORTH BRANCH

The Vikings haven’t taken the court since downing Chisago Lakes, but prior to that, they went 1-1 on the week with a sweep over section foe Duluth Denfeld and getting swept by the other Lakes Area team, Forest Lake.

The Vikes had no trouble dispatching the Hunters on Tuesday, September 19, winning 25-13, 25-14 and 25-16, making sure Denfeld’s commute down was longer than the match itself. Benedict had 13 kills and Esget had 11. Sarah Hedberg had five aces and her younger sister Heidi led the team in digs with 11.

Against Forest Lake, however, the Vikings struggled against the much bigger school. Although the teams are in different classes, Head Coach Mike Selbitschka has always found positives in taking on a tough, Class AAAA school in the Rangers.

The Vikes ended up losing in straight sets 25-17, 25-22 and 25-20. They are now 9-3 with just six games remaining. Five of those are in the Mississippi 8 Conference, in which North Branch is currently tied for the lead with a 3-0 mark.

They face fellow unbeaten M8C squad Monticello in the season finale on Monday, October 16, and that may play out as the de facto conference championship match.

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