Grizzlies’ streak ends at 10

FIELD TWP- The North Woods volleyball team saw its ten-match winning streak come to an end at the Rock Ridge tournament on Saturday, but bounced back for a pair of resounding wins on Monday and Tuesday.
The Grizzlies entered the Rock Ridge event as one of the favorites to win, and affirmed that perception in their first two matches of the day. First up for the Grizzlies was Mt. Iron-Buhl, a team they defeated 3-0 to open the season. The Grizzlies were pushed hard by the Rangers, but won the match in two games, 25-23 and 25-20.
The Grizzlies had an easier time in the next round against a clearly overmatched Nashwauk-Keewatin squad, winning 25-11 and 25-18.
It was in the third round against eventual tourney champ South Ridge that the Grizzlies hit a roadblock. North Woods had a mental edge going in with a 3-0 road win against South Ridge on Sept. 10, but that only served to fuel the Panthers’ desire for revenge.
The Grizzlies took an early lead in the first game, but the score had been tied six times by the point it reached 22-22. A Grizzlies error and a Panthers kill gave South Ridge a 24-22 advantage, and after a North Woods time out the Panthers sealed the 25-22 win with a service ace.
North Woods trailed 12-11 in the second game when a South Ridge error put the ball in the serving hand of Lauren Burnett. A big block by Brittin Lappi and an ace by Burnett put the Grizzlies ahead for good at 15-12. The Grizzlies went up by five on a huge kill by Izzy Pascuzzi, and with Presley Chiabotti serving for the win the Panthers committed an unforced error, evening the match at 1-1 with the Grizzlies’ 25-19 win.
The race to 15 points for the match winner was another heated battle, as North Woods overcame an early four-point deficit to forge an 8-8 tie on a Burnett kill, and the game was tied at 9, 10, 11, and 12 as each team battled to impose their will on the other. A pair of Grizzlies miscues gave the Panthers a 14-12 lead, and South Ridge got the revenge they sought by handing North Woods its first match loss of the season with a 15-13 decision.
Denied a berth in the championship match, the loss appeared to take the wind out of the Grizzlies’ sails against Bigfork in the consolation round against Bigfork. The Huskies led from start to finish in the first game, winning 25-20. From a 2-2 tie in the second, the Grizzlies faltered to a 13-5 deficit, and trailed 16-8 when Pascuzzi took the serve for North Woods. A couple of commanding blocks at the net by Amber Sopoci were highlights in a run that cut the lead to 16-13, but that was as close as the Grizzlies would get. Bigfork took the match with a 25-19 win.
“I think to sum it up, it just wasn’t our day,” Head Coach Kaileen Redmond said. “South Ridge came at us with revenge on their mind and it showed in their energy. Our then shuffle of the lineup only added to things not going our way. By the time we got to the Bigfork game, my girls were just tired; 4 matches all in a row with no more than a five-minute break was rough on us.”
Back on track
The weekend was forgotten when the Grizzlies hit the road on Monday for a match against Littlefork-Big Falls. The energy was back up as North Woods won handily, 25-18, 25-16, and 25-14.
Tuesday found the Grizzlies back on their home floor taking on McGregor, and North Woods showed no mercy in the 3-0 smackdown, crushing the Mercuries 25-4, 25-10, and 25-13.
North Woods was scheduled to play at Northeast Range on Thursday, followed by a Monday home match against Chisholm. The Grizzlies will renew their rivalry with Ely on Tuesday in a home match that will be “Dig Pink” night for breast cancer awareness.