“The Vikings came out strong serving and hitting aggressively,” stated Head Coach Heidi Isaman.  “The Vikings knew if we could get our offense in system and hit away at the Trojans we would have the advantage.  We passed the ball quite well and got our offense going right away to control the pace of the game throughout the first set.  In set two we played very good defense but started to make too many hitting and setting errors to give the Trojans too many free points.  We dug a hole to start the third set by struggling with our serve receive and starting with several hitting and setting mistakes again. Also the Trojans really picked up their defense and started to dig up everything we could fire at them.  Lots of long rallies were played and we did a great job defensively to stick in the long rally but we did not have the offensive opportunities that we needed and we lost the set.  Set 4 the Vikings really dug deep and gave amazing effort to fight back.” 

Statistical leaders for the Vikings were Berg (3 aces, 3 kills, 14 digs), Ryley Paulson (8 kills, 15 digs), Tollefson (8 kills, 12 digs, 7 set assists, 1.5 blocks), Haiby (16 digs), Anna Stephenson (5 kills, 14 digs, 3 blocks), Sophia Paulson (10 digs, 11 assists), Martinez (9 digs) and Booth (7 digs).

“Defensive Specialists Kiera Booth, Emily Martinez, Allie Haiby, and Sylvia Pesch came off the bench doing a great job defensively and passed much better to get our offense in system,” noted Coach Isaman.  “Riley Berg served very aggressively all night to get the Trojans out of system.  Middle hitters Anna Stephenson and Greta Tollefson played hard at the net and got a few key blocks and tight net play against their big middles.  Pin hitters Ryley Paulson and Kelsey Isaman were aggressive all night getting the majority of the sets to score on their weaker side.  Setters Greta Tollefson and Sophia Paulson did a great job with setting choices and getting our hitters the ball. Set 4 was a great set of volleyball with back and forth rallies and amazing defense on both sides.  The Vikings gave everything they had but came up short.  I am extremely proud of our defense tonight and how the girls fought a hard battle especially in set 4.” 

The Vikings will travel to Frazee for a conference battle on Thursday, September 26th.