AURORA- The Ely Timberwolves Express came steaming into Mesabi East High School last Saturday daring anyone to stop them. It turned out no one could as the Wolves kept their perfect season rolling with four match wins and the tournament championship.
At 21-0 as of last Monday, the Wolves had still been flying under the radar of the Minnesota Volleyball Coaches Association, being snubbed all season long by the coaches in their weekly top-ten Class A rankings. But as the only undefeated team remaining among more than 150 Class A teams in the state, the Wolves earned a little more respect this week, placing just outside of the top-ten at 13th in the balloting. The Quality Rating Formula used to rank teams for the playoffs has Ely slated ninth best in Class A.
The Wolves likely hadn’t paid any attention to such things as they took the floor Saturday against a tough Chisholm squad and doled out a 25-17, 25-13 pasting to the Bluestreaks. They rolled over Two Harbors 25-11, 25-8 before lunch, then came back to face their stiffest challenge of the tourney against Floodwood.
The overall tournament atmosphere lacked the usual intensity with few fans choosing to attend, giving the event the feel of a scrimmage among good friends instead of battles against deserving foes. That may have lulled the Wolves into a bit of a lull, as the Polar Bears put the big chill on them in the first set, capturing a surprising 25-16 win. But poking a sleeping wolf with a stick is never a good idea, and the Wolves responded ferociously, humbling the upstart Polar Bears by scores of 25-13 and 25-12 for their third match win of the day.
The North Woods Grizzlies were looking to make a little noise of their own at Mesabi East, and they got off on the right foot by taking down Northeast Range 25-6, 25-16. Barnum was no match for the Grizzlies, falling 25-13, 25-12.
After Ely defeated Floodwood, the Grizzlies took a crack at the Polar Bears, winning the first set 25-14. But North Woods ran out of steam in a close second set won by Floodwood 25-21 and suffered their first loss of the tourney after losing the score-shortened third set 15-7.
North Woods was then the last team to try to knock off Ely, and they gave it a good shot in the first set, erasing a big deficit but coming up just short of the win, 25-23. With the tourney championship squarely in their sights, the Wolves easily overpowered North Woods in the final set.
Saturday was a watershed day in the season of formerly winless Northeast Range, as the young Nighthawks pulled off their first victories of the season. First to fall to the Nighthawks was Wrenshall, with NER winning an extra-long 29-27 thriller in the first set and picking up a 25-20 win in the second. With newfound confidence, the Nighthawks upped their win total to two with a solid 25-18, 25-21 win over Two Harbors.