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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Ely dumps Mariners in three sets

Marshall Helmberger
Posted 9/11/19

SILVER BAY— Ely had to relocate their contest against the Mariners on Tuesday, but it didn’t faze the Timberwolves, who wrapped up Silver Bay in straight sets, 25-16, 25-11, and 25-9. Falling …

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Ely dumps Mariners in three sets

Posted

SILVER BAY— Ely had to relocate their contest against the Mariners on Tuesday, but it didn’t faze the Timberwolves, who wrapped up Silver Bay in straight sets, 25-16, 25-11, and 25-9. Falling plaster from the ceiling of the Ely gymnasium last Friday forced the school district to close their gym until repairs can be made, and that prompted relocation of Tuesday’s volleyball match to Silver Bay.

The Ely squad has started well this season, and they continued to show consistency this week. “The girls played well on Tuesday,” said Head Coach Andrea Thomas. “Our passing was on target and the girls played aggressively.”

Brielle Kallberg had another strong night with seven kills and seven ace serves, along with a 12-point serving run in the second set. McCartney Kaercher served ten straight in set three and posted 26 set assists and four aces serves. McKenna Coughlin proved the night’s top assassin, with 13 kills, while Erika Mattson posted six and Jenna Merhar five.

In tournament action at Greenway last Saturday, the Wolves put up a solid performance, topping Mt. Iron-Buhl in two sets, 25-16 and 25-15 before polishing off Mesabi East 25-19 and 25-21. They played hard in the afternoon as well, but couldn’t overcome a few mental lapses that cost them matches against Greenway (23-25 and 20-25) and Cherry (13-25, 25-19, and 8-15).

“The morning went well for us, even though we were playing a slower tempo of volleyball than we’d like,” said Thomas. “The afternoon showed us that we can battle back when we are down. After a few errors early on in set one against Greenway we were able to regroup and play some great volleyball. In set two, the score went back and forth and even and though we lost, I felt that we played very competitively. Against Cherry, our errors led to our demise in sets one and three, We just didn’t have the mental toughness to recover from them. Set two was great.  We played aggressively and kept the momentum on our side.”

The Wolves had little trouble with Cherry in their Thursday night matchup, sweeping the Tigers 25-18, 25-21, and 25-22. Brielle Kallberg had a big night, with eight kills, seven digs, eight blocks, and five set assists. McCartney Kaercher put up 20 sets and notched six digs, while McKenna Coughlin posted ten kills. Erika Mattson tallied seven kills and as many digs.

“The girls played great defense all night,” said Thomas.

The Wolves were set to face Mesabi East on Thursday night, in Aurora. They travel to the border on Tuesday to take on International Falls. First serve is set for 7 p.m.