Arguably the most impressive run in Ely sports history came to an end Tuesday night at the high school gymnasium.
Fueled by a potent hitting attack, visiting Greenway was able to do what no team has in nearly eight years and handed Ely a high school volleyball defeat on its home floor.
The Raiders shook off a narrow loss in the opening set and largely dominated the rest of the way, winning 27-29, 25-8, 25-21, 25-18.
For the Wolves, now 1-1 this fall, it brought an end to a nearly incomprehensible 59-game home winning streak.
It was Ely’s first loss on the home floor since Oct. 25, 2017.
It was also a rare regular season defeat for the Wolves, who haven’t lost a best-of-five regular season contest since Oct. 4, 2021.
But it also came with some positives, head coach Megan Wognum, said Wednesday, as Ely retools this season after losses both to graduation and injury.
“Obviously we haven’t had much for losses, but I think the girls came out of it with their heads held up high,” said Wognum. “We’re starting sort of fresh and reconfiguring our team, and they were able to change our offense in the middle of a game, which was pretty cool.”
Ely fans have become accustomed to dominant performance at home and on the road, but it was evident early on that the Raiders were intent on changing history.
Ely led 21-17 in the first set but the Raiders took the next five points and three times had set point.
But each time the Wolves rallied and hits by cousins Violet Udovich and Lydia Shultz helped the host squeak by.
Greenway answered right back, scoring the first seven points in the second set and leading 21-5 at one point on the way to a 17-point win.
The third set was closer but the Raiders’ cadre of hitters proved to be too much.
Ely got out to a narrow lead in the fourth set but it didn’t last and Greenway rallied to put the Wolves away, ending the nearly eight-yearold streak to the stunned silence of the hometown crows.
“We played them in the scrimmage last week but they did not play the way they did on Tuesday,” said Wognum. “They definitely showed up to play.”
Shultz paced the Ely offense with 13 kills, with fellow junior Charlotte Hegman adding seven and senior Sadie Rechichi finishing with six.
Udovich was next with five and Makenzi Huntington finished with three.
Setter Gretta Lowe dished out 24 assists and Huntington added another eight, while Huntington recorded eight digs and Hegman was next with seven.
The night before, Ely shook off a second set scare and swept Deer River 25-10, 25-22, 25-16.
Udovich moved into Ely’s varsity rotation and picked up a team-high 10 kills, while Hegman and Shultz finished with seven each and both Huntington and Amelia Penke had four.
Rechichi delivered four ace serves to go with her three kills, and Lowe wound up with 33 set assists.
Ely puts its 1-1 record on the line this week on the road with contests at both Littlefork- Big Falls and Cherry, with the Sept. 6 Greenway Tournament to follow.
“I feel like we’ve made huge gains,” said Wognum. “Coming out of losing three of our starters, I’m really proud of them for being able to be adaptable. I feel I can take any of these girls and shake them up and throw them on the floor, but that also makes it challenging to see what works best together.”
