AURORA— The Timberwolves proved it again here last Saturday— in Section 7A volleyball, they’re the team to beat. For the second time this season, Ely swept eight straight sets to take first in a Section 7 weekend tournament.
Mesabi East offered the only substantial competition on the day, as Ely took the first set 25-19 and missed multiple match points before taking the second set 28-26. Floodwood came out fast in their match with the Wolves, before falling 25-20. But Ely mopped the floor with the Polar Bears in the second set, winning 25-7. The Wolves had no trouble in their opening contest against Northeast Range, routing the Nighthawks 25-3, 25-13. And Ely put an exclamation point on their straight set victory over North Woods earlier in the week, topping the Grizzlies 25-15, 25-13.
As she has much of the season, junior Lilli Rechichi led offensively for the Wolves with 41 kills on the day, while posting 13 digs from the backcourt. Senior Hannah Penke, who is back in the lineup after an injury, posted 29 kills and 24 digs. Freshman Audrey Kallberg added 16 kills and a team-high 33 digs, while junior Clare Thomas tallied 16 kills, 30 digs, and ten ace serves. Senior setter Sarah Visser notched an impressive 87 assists along with 15 digs, while freshman Amelia Penke added 13 digs.
For the Grizzlies, the hoped-for rematch with the Wolves was a sour end to an otherwise strong outing in the tournament. North Woods fended off a tough second-game challenge from Chisholm to win its opening match 25-10, 27-25, then followed up with a convincing 25-16, 25-18 defeat of Two Harbors to win their morning pool. With a strong showing against Mesabi East in their first afternoon round, 25-20, 25-15, North Woods faithful were hopeful that momentum would carry over into the Ely match. The Grizzlies came out strong and led 6-5 in the opening set, but then Ely reeled off seven consecutive points to take charge 12-6. The Grizzlies could get no closer than four the rest of the way in the 25-15 loss. The second set played out much the same way, with the Grizzlies surrendering an 8-7 lead under a barrage of nine straight points by the Wolves, who breezed to the easy 25-13 win to take the match.
After getting trounced by Ely in their opener, Northeast Range bounced back to play more competitive matches the rest of the tourney. Floodwood dealt the Nighthawks a 2-0 defeat with wins of 25-8, 25-15. That the Nighthawks were on the upswing could be seen in a scrappy close battle with Barnum. After the Bombers won a tough opening set 25-20, the Nighthawks turned the tables and won an even tougher 26-24 slugfest to force a third set. Despite strong team play across the board, the Nighthawks came out on the short end of a 19-17 score to drop their third match of the day. Chisholm prevailed over NER in the nightcap, 2-0.