FIELD TWP- The North Woods volleyball team put their fourth-best record in Section 7A on the line Monday with a home match against Nashwauk-Keewatin and notched their 16th straight-set win of the season over the Spartans.
It was “Dig Pink Night” for breast cancer awareness, and the Grizzlies came out in bright pink warm-up tops to match the sea of pink in the stands. Virgie Hegg Hospice Partners was the beneficiary of the evening’s fundraising activities.
The Grizzlies were up early 4-2 when Addy Hartway got hot and scored four consecutive points on a pair of blocks and a couple of kills, giving North Woods an 8-2 advantage. After the Spartans pulled into an 11-11 tie, a kill and a dunk by River Cheney and consecutive big kills by Lauren Burnett got the Grizzlies on a roll as they took a 17-11 lead. The Spartans got back to within 22-21, but North Woods held on for the 25-22 win.
The Grizzlies took control early at 12-5 in the second set, getting an ace from Hartway to go along with a kill from Isabel Pascuzzi and key points at the net from Cheney and Talise Goodsky. But the Spartans again made it close at the end, getting to within 23-21 before a Burnett kill and Hartway block gave North Woods the 25-21 win.
There would be no repeat of Spartan comebacks in the third set. Madison Dantes put shackles on the Spartans with her serve in a seven-point run that put North Woods up 10-3, and the Grizzlies never looked back, breezing to a match-deciding 25-14 win.
The Grizzlies picked up their 16th win of the season, one more than last year, against only four losses. The Grizzlies were scheduled to go on the road Thursday to play Silver Bay, then have another away contest at Chisholm on Monday before finishing out the regular season at home Tuesday against Floodwood.