FIELD TWP- With only a couple of hiccups along the way, the North Woods volleyball team made its way to the 7A sectional tournament semifinals with 3-1 match wins over Deer River and Nashwauk-Keewatin last week.
The second-seeded Grizzlies opened at home on Wednesday, Oct. 25 against No. 7 Deer River, a team they defeated in straight sets during the regular season.
The Warriors hung tight through 8-8 in the opening set until the Grizzlies scored four consecutive points to take a 12-8 lead. It was all North Woods from there as the lead kept growing through the 25-15 Grizzlies win.
The knockout punch for the Grizzlies in the second set came when Addy Hartway took over at the service line. North Woods reeled off nine points in a row, with four aces by Hartway, to take a commanding 18-6 lead. A five-point run spurred by Tori Olson at the serve put the Grizzlies up 24-9, and Talise Goodsky sneaked in the set winner on a quick flip for a 2-0 lead.
The third set began to unfold in the same way as the first two, but the Warriors wouldn’t let the Grizzlies get away this time. Trailing by six at 15-9, Deer River fought back to a 20-20 tie, and took the lead 22-21 on a bump by Constance Bowstring. The Warriors’ Ella Storlie gave Deer River a 25-23 win with a big kill shot off Grizzzlies blockers.
The loss was only a momentary aberration for North Woods. With Hartway serving at 4-3, the Warriors couldn’t find the court with a hit, misfiring a half-dozen times in a devastating 11-0 Grizzlies run. North Woods surrendered some of its 12-point lead down the stretch but scored a 25-17 win to take the match and advance.
Grizzlies Head Coach Kandi Olson warned her team that Deer River would be a tougher opponent than in the regular season.
“I told them is they had to remember that Deer Rivers was here to fight for their life and they would give us everything they’ve got,” Olson said. “They did tonight. They fought hard, and I have to give them props for that third game. We knew we had to come back stronger after that.”
The Grizzlies’ quarterfinals opponent, No. 6 Nashwauk-Keewatin, was an upset winner over No. 3 Mt. Iron-Buhl in the opening round and gave North Woods one of its toughest tests of the year during the regular season. Coming in with the same intensity they used to close out Deer River, the Grizzlies’ attack in the first set was relentless as they steadily pulled away for a 25-14 win.
Clearly stung by the loss, the Spartans came out swinging in the second set, leading from the outset in building a 14-9 lead. Although North Woods fought back to take a 17-16 lead, Nashwauk-Keewatin remained in control and evened the match with a 25-23 win.
The loss was a wake-up call for the Grizzlies, Olson said.
“Those kids after they got that loss in that game, they just said no, it’s not happening again. We’re changing this right now,” Olson said.
The third set was almost a mirror image of the first, with the Grizzlies unrelentingly creeping away from the Spartans for a 25-16 win punctuated with a pair of Lauren Burnett kills.
The fourth and final set was perhaps the most competitive one the Grizzlies have played all season. With Olson at serve and Burnett and Hartway firing away North Woods raced to a 9-0 start that quickly ballooned to 13-1. The Spartans simply had no answer for a Grizzlies team collectively playing in the zone, and North Woods cashed their ticket to the tourney semis with a crushing 25-7 win.
“Our serving was the killer,” Olson said. “We had some absolutely fantastic offense going on, and we had some great faking that was creating offense. And all of that starts with our passers and setters. I just feel like it’s really clicking with them.”
The Grizzlies advanced to take on Floodwood in Wednesday’s semifinal at Rock Ridge. Their regular season matchup, won 3-2 by Floodwood, was arguably the Grizzlies sternest test of the season. North Woods would earn a slot in Saturday’s championship match with a win, and go home with a loss.

Updated after print deadline: North Woods lost to Floodwood 3-2 in their sectional semifinal matchup on Wednesday, ending the Grizzlies season at 20-6.