The Vikings showed some first game nerves right away and struggled putting our offense together to start set 1.  We quickly were down 0-6 as we then took a time out to try and calm our nerves.  We did not pass the ball very well to keep us out of system way too much.  We tried to stay aggressive but had too many hitting errors trying to avoid their blockers.  Senior Ellie Welch finally got us on a 6 point serving run to close the large gap a bit but Park Christian controlled the set from start to finish and we lost set 1, 16-25.

Set 2 we knew we needed to settle down and pass the ball better so we could get our offense in sync.  We also knew we needed to get more aggressive at the net and attack their blockers.  Junior Anna Roisum got us started with exactly that and got a few huge kills for us off their blockers hands.  This created some confidence in our front row and other hitters followed suit. Our 3 main server receivers Hazel Haugrud, Morgan Korf, and Claudia Gurath were a huge part of turning this game around and getting our offense in sync.  These 3 girls passed the ball extremely well the rest of the night.  The Vikings fought back and won set 2, 25-17.

Set 3 was a back and forth battle.  New varsity starters Zayla Arrow and Arianna Hovland did a great job of coming ready to hit and use their opportunity to the fullest.  Both girls hit the ball very well which was big for us to be able to move their blockers around.  Setters Ellie Welch and Anna Roisum did a great job leading the team offensively using all our hitters well and seeing the open spots of the court when out of system.  The girls all stayed aggressive and won a close set 3, 25-22.

Set 4 the heat was getting the fatigue to set in but the Vikings did not slow down or back off.  Libero Morgan Korf made some huge defensive plays to frustrate the Falcons while defensive players Hazel Haugrud and Claudia Gruath we exceptional at reading and defending the short ball which has been a huge focus on a practice these last 2 weeks. Middles and setters Ellie Welch and Anna Roisum were perfectly in sync feeding each other in the middle to wear the Falcons down.  Senior Marie Backstrom also had a big set.  After a little slow start Backstrom had a few key blocks that were huge in the winning of set 4. Vikings won set 4, 25-17 to take the match.

I was really proud of these girls for fighting back after a tough first set loss.  They fixed mistakes quickly and played more aggressive as the night went on.  It was so great to see them apply the big items we had been working on in practice to the opening game situation. The Vikings will host Hillcrest on Thursday, August 31st.

State leaders were Roisum (14 kills, 6 digs, 13 assists), Welch (7 kills, 13 assists, 1.5 block kills), Korf (34 digs), Haugrud (18 digs) Gurath (22 digs, 3 kills), Backstrom (5 kills, 1 block kill) and Arrow (4 kills, 1 block kill).