Volleyball spells rebellion from the norm

Elvis Presley once said, "I think all people have a natural instinct to rebel."

The idea of rebellion is almost always negative.  However, this year's volleyball team rebels against a state of complacency, and against everyone who has said they are too young and inexperienced to make any noise.

Beng picked sixth in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) preseason poll, the Vikings were expected to be middle of the pack.  The team, however, refuses to settle for that destiny.  With a record of 6-5 this season, the squad will soon face the decision to fold into a middle of the pack team, or join the top five teams in the NSIC as a Division II national threat.

The talent for becoming a threat is there.  Sophomores Dani Haley, Grace Sanders and Jordan Spatenka have led their team in assists, digs, and kills so far this season, while true freshmen Lindsay Peterson and Christina Bielski have shown extreme poise in their first tastes of top-level college volleyball.

Concordia-St. Paul is expected to win their fourth straight National Championship, but the gap is closing.  Five other NSIC teams are listed in the national top 25.

"The gap is getting smaller," Haley said.  "We can compete with all these top teams."

That confidence isn't new for the Vikings, it's just been paper-bagged for the past few rebuilding years. This year, however, the team has matured enough to be able to create their own predictions.

Head coach Ashley Buckley has instilled the rebellious nature in her team with a never-die-easy attitude.

"We are always told that the harder you work, the more you put into the game, the harder it is to yield," senior Brianna Erickson said.

Another rebellious quality these girls possess, is that no one assumes full leadership. Erickson accepted the role of senior leadership, but if the Vikings wish to continue winning, the younger players must accept leadership roles and be willing to step up and make the tough plays when needed.

A culture of rebellion has taken the Vikings by storm, and with the success it has brought them, the idea of conforming isn't an option.