There were a few hiccups on Tuesday, but Ely’s highly touted volleyball team emerged from its first week of play with a perfect record - and the look of a force to contend with.
For much of Monday’s home opener, the Timberwolves were clicking on all cylinders against an overmatched Deer River team.
Ely scored nine of the first 10 points and rolled to a 258, 25-10, 25-8 sweep before a good-sized crowd at the Memorial Gymnasium.
Senior Audrey Kallberg, back in the lineup after missing the entire 2025 season with a knee injury, helped pace a multipronged Ely offense with eight kills, while senior setter Gretta Lowe continued her march toward 2,000 set assists with a match-high 26 for the night.
The Wolves ran their record to 2-0 Tuesday in Coleraine, controlling the bulk of the opening two sets, struggling at times in the third, but scoring a 25-13, 25-19, 25-21 sweep.
Ely, which is gunning for the program’s fourth state tournament berth in five seasons, has home games ahead this week with Littlefork-Big Falls and Cherry and could be tested early on - both at the Sept. 12 Greenway Tournament and a Sept. 14 road showdown with potential Section 7A contender Chisholm.
But opponents have many reasons also to fear the Wolves, who have shown early on that they have a multitude of weapons.
Ely was dominant at the serving line Monday, with Lowe delivering five aces, followed by Charlotte Hegman with four and Peyton Huntington with three.
Hegman also had six kills, with Violet Udovich hammering home five and both Amelia Penke and Lydia Shultz finishing with three.
Shultz and Hegman had six digs each and Ruby Lowe contributed a couple of kills.
Contributions also came from all over the lineup against Greenway, with Ely looking sharp early on and then holding up despite some late miscues.
Kallberg recorded a teamhigh nine kills, with Udovich (eight), Hegman (seven) and Shultz (five) close behind.
Gretta Lowe passed her way to a match-high 29 set assists, with Shultz notching 12 digs and Hegman coming up with seven.
