North Branch Defeats Cambridge-Isanti in Conference Battle

The Vikings hosted the Bluejackets on Tuesday night.

North Branch was looking to improve their conference record, and C-I was looking for their first conference win.

The 1st set was even across the board, neither team was able to get a lead larger than 2 points. C-I held a lead early on but North Branch quickly tied the game and took the lead themselves. It was back and forth throughout until late in the set, the Vikings were able to take the lead and finish off the set with the 25-22 win.

The 2nd set started similar to the first, it was even early on. But the Bluejackets were able to pull all momentum on their side. They began to pull away and it seemed like they could do no wrong. North Branch continued to battle, and fought hard to the end. But C-I ran away with the 2nd set win 25-11.

The 3rd set began as a one sided affair, North Branch rolled out to a 6-0 lead to begin the set. It felt as if we were wondering if their hot start would ever stop. But the Bluejackets called a timeout to interrupt the Vikings momentum. Then the Jackets were able to score and the question became, could they overcome the large deficit? Well the answer was a resounding yes. It took some time, but they eventually came back and tied the game and even took the lead. Late in the set, C-I was up by 3 and it seemed like they had everything going their way. But a Vikings timeout late allowed them to steal momentum and come back to win the set 25-23.

The Jackets needed to win the 4th to have a chance in the 5th. But the 4th started off like the 3rd, a 6-0 start for North Branch. And it looked like a runaway for the Vikes, although it took some time C-I was able to once again overcome the large deficit and tied the set. From that point on the game had everyone on the edge of their seat. Both teams traded the lead and the game remained deadlocked at a tie late. But North Branch was able to get to match point up by 2. C-I would not go down easily and they scored two points to tie the set once again. But the Vikings stayed level headed and were able to finish off the set winning 26-24 and won the match 3-1.

For North Branch they move to 3-1 in conference play, and will travel to Zimmerman on Thursday.

C-I while still looking for their first conference win, is continuing to improve and grow with each set and will certainly be a team to watch for.

Our Pine Insurance Player of the Game was North Branch's Jenna Minke!