BIGFORK- “The one that got away” is supposed to be a fishing story, not a volleyball lament, but it’s a phrase that will linger into the offseason for the North Woods Grizzlies after being eliminated from the Section 7A volleyball tourney last Friday at Bigfork.
The Grizzlies forced a fifth and deciding game with an overwhelming 25-11 rout of the Huskies in the fourth game and appeared to have all the momentum on their side in what had otherwise been a tight contest between evenly-matched opponents.
Bigfork grabbed the early lead in the fifth, but a pair of aces by Carsyn Burnett and two kills by Izzy Pascuzzi kept the Grizzlies close. North Woods took a 9-8 lead on a pair of kills by Lauren Burnett, and extended the lead to 11-8 on two huge blocks, the first involving Lauren Burnett and Mya Kinsey and the second Kinsey and Brittin Lappi. The Grizzlies looked to be in the driver’s seat for a trip to the tourney semifinals when Lauren Burnett slammed another kill for a 12-8 lead in the shortened 15-point game.
But momentum is a most fickle thing in sports, swinging often on a single play, and when the Huskies’ Memphys Tendrup hammered a kill to end the Grizzlies’ scoring streak, Bigfork suddenly had new life. McKinnley Johnson followed up with an ace for Bigfork, and after a pair of Lauren Burnett kill attempts sailed long, North Woods Head Coach Kaileen Redmond called a time out with the score knotted at 12-12. But the Grizzlies got no reprieve from the break, and the Huskies kept up the heat and escaped with the 15-12 win and the 3-2 match victory.
The sudden reversal of fortunes put a big damper on what had otherwise been a valiant Grizzlies effort. Trailing by as many as six in the opening game, North Woods gamely fought back to within one before losing 25-23.
North Woods trailed 20-15 when a Pascuzzi kill turned the tide, and with the junior hitter at the serve the Grizzlies came roaring back to take a 21-20 lead. Bigfork was serving with a 23-22 lead but faulted on the serve, and with Tessa Burnett taking the ball the Grizzlies got scores from Lauren Burnett and Carsyn Burnett to take the second game 25-23.
North Woods was within two at 16-14 in the third game when Bigfork got on a roll, closing with a 9-1 run to win 25-15 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Needing a win to stay alive, the Grizzlies completely dominated the fourth game. With Lappi and Pascuzzi at the serve for long scoring runs, the Grizzlies steamrollered their way to an improbable 18-3 lead. While the Huskies regained a bit of balance, the huge lead was insurmountable as the Grizzlies won 25-11.
The No. 3-seeded Grizzlies had hoped to make a deeper run into the tourney by pulling the upset over the No. 2 Huskies, but Bigfork was able to beat North Woods for the second time in three tries this season. North Woods bowed out with a season record of 19-6, one win shy of last season’s mark.