It’s been an impressive and somewhat easy start for Ely’s high school volleyball team.
But the easy part figures to change - in a big way - on Monday night.
That’s when the unbeaten Timberwolves travel to Chisholm and take on the Bluestreaks in what figures to be an early-season test of strength and power within Section 7A.
Ely, 3-0, is looking to return to the top of the section after being knocked from its throne a year ago. The host Bluestreaks, meanwhile, have won three straight games to open the season and went all the way to the 7A Final Four in 2025 while going 21-3.
Whoever prevails Monday is likely to have the moniker of section favorite going forward and both teams have likely circled the Sept. 14 date on their respective calendars.
Ely tunes up this weekend at the Greenway Tournament, and the Wolves won their third straight earlier this week with little trouble.
In about 50 minutes, the Wolves swept Littlefork-Big Falls, 25-12, 25-4, 25-10.
The Vikings tested the Wolves for the first dozen points, playing to a six-all deadlock when a combination of Ely hits and tips and Vikings hits into the net turned the game into a rout.
It was all-Ely in the second set and the Wolves pulled away in the third to finish off the easy sweep.
Contributions came from all over the lineup for the winners, with Amelia Penke notching a team-best nine kills.
Fellow seniors Audrey Kallberg and Charlotte Hegman came up with eight kills each, with Violet Udovich (five) and Lydia Shultz (four) next on the stat chart.
Senior setter Gretta Lowe distributed the ball to Ely’s hitters, adding another 31 set assists to her already impressive total.
Lowe also had three of the team’s 11 ace serves, with Kallberg adding three more, and Shultz paced on defense with seven digs. Penke and Peyton Huntington both added five.
Ely is scheduled to face International Falls and Nashwauk- Keewatin during pool play Saturday at Coleraine. The Wolves will also have two other contests there.
