“The Vikings have a lot of new faces and are implementing a brand new offense and were excited to get a chance to compete on our home court,” said Head Coach Kaylie Isaman.  “The Vikings started strong with serve receiving the ball quite well which has been the biggest skill we have been working toward making improvements on this preseason.  They gave our new setters Greta Tollefson and Anna Stephenson more opportunity to get more hitters in the game. Sophomore Tori Stephenson started strong ready to hit the ball at the pin.  We had some issues with our setting and hitting consistency tonight which is expected with an inexperienced team implementing a brand new offense.” 

The Vikings started to get into a little more of a rhythm offensively halfway through the first set to dig themselves out of a hole but not enough to get the win.  In the second set Pelican Rapids started to get their outside hitters Riley Paulson and Riley Berg the ball more in our back row as well as our front row and we started on a scoring run.  Greta Tollefson had a monster kill on the outside assisted by Anna Stephenson to get the team and crowd going but the Falcons played great defense and kept digging up most of what the Vikings were giving them. 

“Allie Haiby played a solid defensive game for us tonight,” said Coach Isaman.  “Haiby was another girl who changed positions for us this year and is making great progress as a defensive specialist, but the Falcons quick offense was a little much for us and we continued to struggle with our blocking.”

In set three the Vikings started stronger serving aggressively and picking it up defensively to get their first lead of the night with a score of 14-13 and kept the lead with a score of 18-16.  Freshman Kelsey Isaman came off the bench to get a few key kills and make a few defensive saves to help them keep the lead.  Middle hitter Anna Stephenson started to get more aggressive in the front row and made some big touches to slow down their middle hitters. A few crucial mistakes after that helped the Falcons regain the lead and complete the sweep.

“Even though this was not the outcome we wanted for our season opener,” said Coach Isaman.  “I am very proud of the effort and resilience the girls showed tonight.  They passed the ball very well all night and competed until the end against a very athletic and experienced team.  We are excited to get back to work tomorrow and prepare for our game against Hillcrest on Thursday.”

Statistical leaders were Stephenson (6 kills, 3 assists, 2 digs), Berg (4 kills, 9 digs), Paulson (9 digs, 2 aces), Kiera Booth (7 digs), Tollefson (3 kills, 6 digs, 9 assists) and Allie Haiby (6 digs).