Playoff drama was noticeably absent Wednesday night at Ely’s Memorial Gymnasium.
The three-time defending Section 7A champion Ely Timberwolves seemed to hardly work up a sweat, downing Deer River in less than an hour during an opening round playoff encounter.
Lydia Shultz had eight kills, Makenzi Huntington added six and the Wolves spread the wealth in a 25-14, 25-17, 25-14 sweep.
The third-seeded Wolves ran their record to 19-9 and set up a 7A quarterfinal showdown at North Woods on Friday night.
A berth in the 7A semifinals, which take place Oct. 29 at Rock Ridge, is on the line in the third regular season matchup with the second-seeded Grizzlies.
North Woods won a weekend tournament encounter with the Wolves while Ely prevailed in a Sept. 30 date here.
Ely, which lost both to graduation and injury this fall, was never seriously threatened by Deer River, save for a brief second-set hiccup.
Head Coach Megan Bialik attributed that to some early-playoff jitters.
“We had a little struggle there for a minute but we came back well at the end of that second set,” said Bialik. “I think there’s a lot of pressure right now, but I also think that’s kind of turning into a hunger to want to win. They have some fire under them and they’re ready. They’re not anywhere near done yet.”
Ely quickly built a double- digit lead in the opening set against the sixth-seeded Warriors, and the hosts took control of the contest.
Deer River found pockets of success in the middle set but Ely went on a late run, taking a stranglehold of a lead and never turning back.
The Wolves were down 4-2 early in the third but the deficit was only temporary.
“I feel like we showed up defensively, and that was good to see,” said Bialik.
Shultz had a team-high 10 digs for the Wolves and senior Sadie Rechichi finished with eight,.
Peyton Huntington added five more.
At the serving line, junior Amelia Penke delivered five aces and added 10 set assists.
Both Rechichi and Ruby Lowe finished with five kills and Penke, Charlotte Hegman and Violet Udovich added two each.
Gretta Lowe passed her way to 18 set assists.
Ely has reached the quarterfinal round of the section tournament in seven straight seasons, and the Wolves will go for a seventh straight final four appearance against North Woods.
The two powerhouses exchanged victories in the last four weeks and the rubber match figures to be intense.
“We have to come out ready to block and play defense,” said Bialik. “They have some good outside hitters but if we get our right side and middle blocking right away we can shut them down pretty quick.”
The winner will likely face Floodwood in a semifinal on Wednesday.
The 7A title game is slated for Saturday, Nov. 1, also at Rock Ridge.
