North Branch Falls to Grand Rapids in Section Semi Final

North Branch hosted Grand Rapids on Monday night.

These two teams had played twice during the regular season, something that doesn't happen to often. The first meeting was in late August, when the Thunderhawks won the match in 5 sets. The next meeting was at a big tournament down in Burnsville, where Grand Rapids won 2-0. This time the Vikings got to host the match in a win or go home situation.

Both teams came out ready to play in the 1st set. But it was Grand Rapids getting out to the early lead. It seemed as if the T-Hawks had quickly swung momentum, but the Vikings responded nicely. And while they were still trailing, they battled hard and cut the deficit to only a couple. The teams went back and forth on scoring and it was a sprint to the finish. A sprint the Hawks would win 25-20.

The 2nd set was very close early on and throughout much of the set. Neither side was able to take advantage of the lead, until late. That's when Rapids was able to pull away and win the set 25-18, and now lead 2-0.

Now it came down to what could be a third and final set. North Branch knew what was at stake, and out of the set break there was a new found confidence. They got off to a hot 5-0 start, before Rapids was able to get a point. But this set was all Vikings, while the Hawks were able to score it wasn't nearly enough. The Vikings simply dominated the set and ran away with the win 25-13.

So now the Vikings gave themselves one more chance to bring the match to a 5th set to try and win. Rapids was able to score first and take a few point lead. The Vikings weren't going away quietly, they stormed back and tied the game. Again it was a back and forth contest, one team would score and take a lead then the other would tie and retake the lead. It was a tight game late into the set. The Vikings were down but not out and just needed something to go their way. But sadly the Hawks were able to score the final point to win the match 3-1.

The Vikings season comes to an end but it was yet another great season!