FIELD TWP — The ecstatic scrum of players on the North Woods side of the floor after scoring the final point in last Wednesday’s sectional quarterfinal volleyball match said it all – after seven long years, the Grizzlies had finally beaten the Ely Timberwolves in a match that counted, winning 3-1 to keep their season alive.
“This is my seventh year, and this is the first time that we have beat them in a regular match, not like we took them in the (shorter) tournament match earlier this season,” said Grizzlies Head Coach Kaileen Redmond, with tears of joy streaking her cheeks. “This feels even sweeter – a long time coming.”
After continually swapping serves en route to a 7-7 tie in the first match, the Wolves opened up a slim three-point edge, 10-7, with Gretta Lowe serving. But after Ella Kruse scored on a bump shot to narrow the gap to 15-13, the Grizzlies’ Brynn Chosa stepped to the service line and shot North Woods into the lead, 17-15, with consecutive aces. But Ely turned the tables after a time out, using kills by Charlotte Hegman and Sadie Rechichi and an ace by Makenzi Huntington to fuel a run that led to a 21-18 Ely advantage. The Wolves rode that momentum to a 25-19 win.
North Woods took command early in the second set, grabbing a 7-3 edge on a little flip shot by Brynn Chosa, but Ely came back to tie it 7-7 on a Lydia Shultz kill. The next North Woods push came with the score tied 10-10.
A service fault turned the ball over to the Grizzlies, and Tessa Burnett spearheaded a five-point run that included a dunk at the net from Carsyn Burnett and a tip shot for a score by Brittin Lappi. The Wolves never got closer than three points after that as North Woods evened the match 1-1 with a 25-19 win.
The third set followed a similar script, with North Woods leading early and Ely coming back to tie it at 10-10.
This time, Lauren Burnett led the way at the service line to a 16-10 Grizzlies lead, notching two aces along the way. Consecutive kills by Izzy Pascuzzi gave the Grizzlies their largest lead of the set at 20-12, and Lauren Burnett slammed home the set-winning kill as North Woods took a 2-1 advantage with another 25-19 win.
Fighting for their tournament lives, the Wolves refused to let North Woods get away in the fourth set. The Grizzlies held leads of one, two, and three points early, but kills by Amelia Penke and Rechichi kept the Wolves in the thick of things, and a Penke kill pulled them even at 11-11. The teams were tied three times through 17-17, then North Woods edged out to a 20-17 lead. Peyton Huntington took the serve for Ely at 24-22 after a Lowe kill and promptly fired an ace. Shultz scored on a slap shot, and when a North Woods kill attempt sailed wide, Ely suddenly had set point at 25-24. Redmond called time out, and when the teams again took the floor, Huntington faulted to tie the score 25-25. Lappi scorched an ace for the Grizzlies, and the wild North Woods celebration ensued after Lauren Burnett slammed down the 27-25 game-ending, match-winning kill.
Redmond said she remained confident in the outcome during that final Ely push.
“I had a lot of confidence in my team. They’ve been working really hard on stuff that we needed to put out there against Ely and they really held their composure at the end,” she said.
Lauren Burnett topped the Grizzlies with 20 kills while Pascuzzi knocked down 15 and Lappi had 11. They were the primary beneficiaries of 36 assists dished out by Carsyn Burnett. Lauren Burnett also led the team in aces and digs, with four and ten, respectively.
Win the win, North Woods, 22-3, secured a place in the Section 7A semifinals on Wednesday at Rock Ridge. Their opponent, No.-1-seed South Ridge, 23-5, is a team the Grizzlies defeated in straight sets during the regular season. Should the Grizzlies win, they would play in the sectional final at 4 p.m. on Saturday, also at Rock Ridge.
It was the end of the road for Ely, coming up short of a fourth consecutive sectional championship and trip to state. The Wolves finished the season with a record of 19-10.