North Branch's volleyball team played Hermantown in the section championship Thursday night.
While Hermantown had a short drive, the Vikings had to drive over an hour in the wintery mix on Halloween night to get up to Cloquet High School.
But thankfully both teams arrived safely, and it was time to ball. Surprisingly these two teams did not meet during the regular season. Both teams were getting the jitters of playing in the section championship out early on. Once they had settled in they were off and running. The 1st set was close from start to finish, neither team held a lead larger than 2 points. Late in the set the Hawks had taken the lead, but North Branch closed the short gap and we were into extra points. Unfortunately, the Hawks were quickly able to finish off the set winning 26-24.
The 2nd set was vastly different, one team had very few mistakes and got into rhythm early, while the other struggled to find any success. Hermantown seemed to use their momentum of winning set 1 to take off in the 2nd. The Vikings however were in a little bit of a slump they seemingly couldn't get out of. The Hawks dominated the 2nd set winning it 25-14.
The 3rd set saw the Hawks get out to an early lead again, but this time the Vikings were quick to answer any point they had scored. North Branch had made a 180 from the 2nd set, and even swung momentum in their favor. While the Vikings were facing elimination in this set, they looked like the team that was up 2-0. But both teams kept the game close once again neither side able to grow a lead more than a few points. As the set wore on, the Vikings had made some mistakes the Hawks capitalized on and took a lead 24-22. North Branch called a timeout that seemed desperately needed. Out of the timeout the Vikings scored 4 unanswered points to win the set 26-24.
Now having won a set the Vikings had a renewed sense of confidence. Like much of the match the 4th set was again close. Sadly, the Hawks got hot at the right time and would eventually pull away with a victory 25-19 and a 3-1 match win.
The Vikings season comes to end, but they should be proud of the season they had. Mississippi 8 Conference Champions, a 24-6 record and a 2nd place finish in section 7AAA.
Congrats North Branch on a great season!
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