FIELD TWP- The only thing hotter than the North Woods School gym on Monday night was the Grizzlies volleyball team, which kicked off the 2024 season by thrashing the visiting Mt. Iron-Buhl Rangers 3-0 in front of a sweaty but enthusiastic crowd,
There was a constant flutter in the stands as printed rosters turned into makeshift fans to beat the heat in the sweltering gym, but the heat did nothing to slow down the Grizzlies, who breezed past MIB 25-14, 25-14, 25-15 in the head coaching debut of former North Woods assistant Kaileen Redmond, who was elevated to the position last spring after coach Kandi Olson stepped down.
Redmond came into the season with a pair of proven cannons on the corners in juniors Lauren Burnett and Izzy Pascuzzi, as well as a number of other capable hitters, but a question mark was who was going to feed them the ball as setter. The quite effective answer was freshman Carsyn Burnett, who demonstrated confidence and skill in both long cross-court passes and short flip sets to her teammates to key the Grizzlies’ attack.
With seniors Mya Kinsey and Amber Sopoci, juniors Brynn Chosa and Brittin Lappi, and eighth-grader Tessa Burnett all factoring into the rotation, the Grizzlies were an efficient and relentless unit, demonstrating good discipline and court coverage.
After falling behind 6-2 in the opening game, the Grizzlies kicked into gear and went on a scorching 12-2 run to take a 16-8 lead. The big damage was done with Carsyn Burnett at the serve, when North Woods reeled off six consecutive points, including a Kinsey-Sopoci double stuff of an MIB kill attempt and a scorching kill by Pascuzzi.
MIB took a 2-1 lead in the second game and had a four-point run to keep it close, trailing 11-9, but Pascuzzi followed up a kill with a pair of service aces to give the Grizzlies some breathing room, and North Woods slowly but surely pulled away, closing out the 25-14 win with a four-point spurt with Lappi serving.
The same basic scenario played out in the third game, with MIB again taking a 2-1 advantage. This time, however, the Grizzlies wasted little time in building an insurmountable lead, manufacturing a 14-3 run to go up by 10, 15-5. A big cross-court kill by Lauren Burnett that she followed up with a serve the Rangers couldn’t return gave the Grizzlies a 21-10 advantage and they coasted to the match victory with a 25-15 win.
Redmond had praise for Carsyn Burnett in filling the shoes of graduated setter Talise Goodsky.
“She learned a lot from her, and we’ve taken those things and she’s worked with our hitters all off season and really prepared,” Redmond said. “She really worked hard this year and she’s earned that spot.”
Redmond was pleased with the cohesiveness the Grizzlies displayed on the court.
“It’s something we’ve been working on a lot in practices,” she said. “A lot of them play together in the off season, which significantly helps this team out. And just having those couple of older girls that have seen the varsity court for a while, having them there to be able to lead some of our younger players has really made a difference for us.”
The Grizzlies were scheduled for another home match against International Falls on Thursday before going on their first road trip of the season on Tuesday at Bigfork.