North Branch hosted Grand Rapids on Monday night.
I know what you're thinking, I've already read this article, but you haven't. Well then maybe it's deja vu, and I would have to agree with you on that. Just two days ago the North Branch football team hosted Grand Rapids in their semi final, and now it was the volleyball team's turn.
The Vikings volleyball team, like the football team, was looking for some revenge against Grand Rapids after losing to them earlier in the season. It certainly wasn't going to be easy for either side. These two were battle tested and desperately wanted to play in the section championship.
The Hawks took over early in the 1st set, forcing North Branch into some mistakes. The Hawks capitalized on those and kept their lead out of reach, despite the late comeback by the Vikings. Rapids won the set 25-19.
The Vikings came out in the 2nd set knowing if they didn't overcome those early mistakes, Rapids would quickly take over. But this set was so closely matched there was barely room to breathe. The Vikes had a lead late in the set, but the Hawks made the comeback to tie it up and also bring on extra points. But North Branch seemed to thrive under pressure capturing the last few points to win the set 27-25.
The Vikings used the momentum from set 2 to propel them to an early lead in set 3. But it seemed no matter how hot a team got or what kind of rhythm they were in, the other side was quick to answer and swing things back in their favor. But late in the set North Branch pulled away to win it 25-22.
As the 4th set began it was clear momentum had exchanged hands and was fully in the grasp of Rapids. The Hawks got out to an early lead, not just early but lopsided. The Hawks lead 10-2 to start the set and it looked like they were going to run away with the set. But this only made for an epic comeback by the Vikings. They would go on a 3-5 run and tie the set, but they weren't satisfied with a tie. They continued to pile on the points and lead 21-17 late. Grand Rapids was not going to let the set slip away so easily, as they closed the gap with a 4-1 run, now down by only a single point. But the Vikings were able to close out the set winning 25-21 and won the match 3-1.
Want even more deja vu, the Vikings will play Hermantown in their volleyball section championship. They'll play that game at Cloquet at 6pm on Thursday.
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