The Lady Vikings let the Hurricanes blow by them on the first match on Tuesday night. Then they went on the war path, winning the next three games to close down play with scores of 25-19, 25-20 and 25-20.

“We lost the first game (25-15) but we didn’t crumble,” said coach Gregg Sasan. “In years past we would have almost thrown in the towel, but they stuck together as a team and then we won the next three. (Mount Vernon Christian) is tough, so it was good to see us come out of that.”

Sasan and assistant coach Hank Date chalked up the first loss to first game jitters.

“We missed a ton of serves that first game,” said Sasan. The girls greatly improved their serving percentage during the next night’s game against La Conner.

Date said he’d like to see the team strengthen their serving, and their passing and setting, as well. On the positive side, “we did a really good job of attacking the ball, when we got a good pass,” said Date.

The Vikings’ middle hitter, senior April Hofmann, looks to be a cornerstone of the team this season, with solid blocks and powerful spikes. She is co-captaining the team with senior Makenna Thomas.

“April is going to be somebody to really watch this year,” said Date. “She’s already demonstrated incredible leadership, along with Makenna, all summer and all fall. She can hit anywhere along the net. April can really finish when she wants to; she’s got a very quick arm swing. She just pounded it down.”

He said Emily Bodenhamer is “a real threat on the left side of the net; when she’s on, she can really thunder a few down. I expect to see more of that,” he said.

Thomas, who has earned the position of white-shirted “libero” this year, pulled out some quick digs as the team’s star back-row defensive specialist.

Middle Serena Sanders led the team in serving, providing good blocks and hits opposite Hofmann, said the coaches, while Kathryn Tidwell did a great job on the front on the outside, teaming up with Hofmann for “some really momentum-changing blocks” in the middle.

Senior setter Adria Garcia was joined on the court by little sis, Aliviah, as the team’s secondary defensive specialist.

Date said the football team lent valuable support when they trooped into the gym, making the bleachers thunder with the cry, “Viking Power!”

“It really picked up the energy in the gym,” said Date. “They canceled part of their practice to come support us.” The volleyball team had cheered on the boys to their coveted Island Cup win on September 11.

Loss to La Conner

The Braves beat the Vikings in three games, with scores of 25-16, 25-13, and 25-11.

“Our mindset when we play La Conner is, we’re going to try to play to their level,” said Sasan. “We hung in there as a team; the girls really gave it their all and had a good time, too. At one point in the first game we were ahead 9-5, then we woke up the giant. For us it was mostly unforced errors; (with La Conner), we know if we give it back to them, you know it’s coming back 100 miles an hour. ”