Many coaches have said over the years that volleyball, more than any other sport is a game of momentum.

The Vikings of Northwood-Kensett found that out the hard way Thursday night when they let the momentum and a 2-0 lead slip from their grasp in a 3-2 loss to West Fork, 25-17, 25-21, 19-25, 20-25, 11-15.

“Basically, they (West Fork) did what they needed to do,” said Vikings head coach Cindy Holland. “We played well the first two games, but we really struggled with our passing after that. We have a lot of talent, but we also have a lot to work on.”

The Vikings trailed 5-3 in game one and held a slim lead at 11-7, that is before Courtney Meyer stepped to the service line. After a couple of warm up serves the senior hitter launched three consecutive aces that looked like they were shot out of a cannon. By the time Meyer was done, she had five aces on the serve alone, N-K was in front 19-7 and went on to an easy 25-17 win.

N-K continued to look good in game two with a 12-5 lead but the Warhawks whittled it all the way down to a 16-15 deficit. Luckily for the Vikings Meyer was once again next up to serve. The veteran came through for N-K a second time with four more aces and along with some thunderous kills by junior Kate Hartman, the Vikings kept the serve and led 22-17 before going up 2-0 in the match with a 25-21 win.

As good as the Vikings looked the first two games it was a sure bet that they could put this one away in three. But then that funny little thing called momentum reared its ugly head and despite its best effort, N-K let game three go to the visitors from West Fork 25-19.

The Vikings tried to regain what they had lost in the third game but it wasn’t just the shift in momentum that changed the match, it was the play of the Warhawks as they almost willed themselves to win. West Fork evened the match at 2-2 with a 25-20 win in a game that was a nail bitter all the way to the end.

“West Fork seemed to get warmed up and just really came on those games,” Holland said. “We didn’t have the energy level in games three and four that we needed if we were going to be able to win.”

As a stunned crowd looked on a very talented N-K team failed to regain any of the momentum that carried them through the first two games as they dropped a heart breaker 11-15 for their first loss of the season in match play. The Vikings are now 2-1 on the year in match play and 1-1 in the Corn Bowl Conference.

Meyers ended the night with 11 aces, 13 kills, and 11 digs, other out standing performances include Hartman with 11 kills, Kayla Eilertson 17 of 17 serving, 15 assists, and Andrea Foley with 14 assists.