ST. PAUL- Last year, the consolation bracket of the Class A state volleyball tournament was a path to redemption for the Ely Timberwolves, who rebounded from a first-round loss to Mayer-Lutheran to defeat Badger/Greenbush-Middle River and West Central Area School for the bracket championship.
Last Friday, however, that same path led to disappointment, as the seventh-seeded Wolves were sent home after dropping their first consolation match against New Life Academy of Woodbury.
The match against the Eagles involved a heartbreaking reversal of fortune, as the Wolves surrendered a 2-0 match lead to third-seeded NLA and suffered a 16-14 defeat in the fifth and final set to end their season at 28-5.
Everything was going Ely’s way after the first two sets. The Wolves shot out of the gate fast in the first set, getting a pair of kills by Charlotte Hegman and a third from Clare Thomas to set the tone with a 3-0 lead. NLA kept within striking range through the middle of the match, and then the Wolves started creating some distance. Kills by Hegman and Audrey Kallberg, an ace from Thomas, and an NLA error put the Wolves up 23-15, and a kill by Hegman closed out the 25-18 Ely win.
Set two resembled two heavyweight fighters standing toe-to-to exchanging blows as the score was tied 13 times and included eight lead changes. Tied at 21-21, a pair of NLA errors and a Kallberg kill gave Ely a 24-21 edge, and the Wolves held on for a 25-23 win and a 2-0 match lead.
Ely’s stellar performance in the first two sets made it all the more puzzling as fans watched them sputter in the third. With two all-staters in the lineup, the Eagles found their rhythm as they extended a 6-4 lead to 15-7, finding holes in the Wolves’ defense while effectively stunting Ely’s offensive attack. The Eagles continued to pile it on, claiming a stunning 25-13 win.
Ely righted the ship after the break in another heated battle, with a Kallberg kill knotting the score at 8-8. But by riding an ace and three consecutive errors by Ely, NLA broke out to a six-point advantage at 14-8. In a contest between teams equally matched when playing at the top of their games, that lead was enough. Ely got back to within three at 22-19, but the Eagles evened the match 2-2 with a 25-19 win.
To say that the fifth set was a torrid affair would be an understatement. Neither team wanted to go home as they battled through 11 ties and four lead changes in the 15-point finale. The Wolves pulled even at 13 and again at 14 on kills by Kallberg. The Eagles got the benefit of the doubt on a close call of a Kallberg shot to the baseline, and the 20th kill of the match by the Eagles’ all-stater Marisa Michaelis was the final blow in New Life’s remarkable resurrection.
“We came into our game against New Life Academy hungry for a win knowing that we needed to win to play on Saturday,” said Ely Head Coach Megan Wognum. “We did a phenomenal job hitting around their block, manipulating every ball, and capitalizing on every possession. We won the first two sets and fought incredibly hard until the end of the game.”
The loss put a damper on numerous strong individual efforts by the Wolves. Ely had four players with double-digit kills, with Kallberg nailing a team-high 19, Lilly Rechichi scoring 15, and Thomas and Hegman collecting 11 each. Rechichi converted 26 percent of her total scoring attacks to lead the team in that category. As a team, Ely had six service aces, five of those coming in the first set and none in the final three. Kallberg and Rechichi topped the team in digs with 15 each, followed by Sadie Rechichi with 12. Gretta Lowe had 49 set assists.
Minneota
The Wolves drew a powerhouse opponent for the first round on Thursday, the No. 2-seeded Minneota Vikings, despite having the best overall record of any team in the tournament.
But the Wolves gave the Vikings all they could handle in a match where small runs made all the difference. Ely got off to a slow start in the first set as they trailed 6-1, but then righted the ship and played the Vikings even through 19-14 before the Vikings closed out the 25-17 win with a 6-3 run.
The second set was a scorcher, with neither team yielding as the score was tied 11 times through 20-20. But Minneota all-stater Elvia Faris scored on a kill to get the Vikings on a roll, and despite two Ely timeouts Minneota scored five consecutive points to win 25-20.
By the time Minneota had taken a 15-10 lead in the third set, it was clear that the Vikings had no chinks in their armor that Ely could exploit for a match-saving rally, and Minneota advanced to the semifinal round with a 25-16 win.
Ely’s own all-stater Lilli Rechichi led the Wolves’ attack with 11 kills, followed by Audrey Kallberg with eight. Clare Thomas and Peyton Huntington tied for the most digs with 13 each. Lowe had 27 set assists.
“The girls were a little nervous but quickly shook the nerves away when they touched the floor for warm-ups,” Wognum said. “We battled with them and hung in there. There were some really great things that came out of that game. Our defense in this game was the best we have played all season. It was amazing to see them show up defensively. Clare Thomas really showed up and left it all on the floor.”
And while the Wolves left the tourney a day earlier than they wanted to, the experience sparked a hunger to return next year and do better.
“I am so proud of everyone on our team,” Wognum said. “They all played an important role in our season. It’s fun to hear some of the players talking about next season and how they are ready to put the time in to make improvements.”