There’s little doubt that the Ely Timberwolves are one of the best small-school volleyball teams in northeastern Minnesota.
Last weekend showed that they can more than hold their own against the state’s best.
The Timberwolves had their best showing ever at the 16-team Minnesota Class A Showcase, winning twice in five contests - all against elite Class A competition.
Eventual tournament champion Minneota, the state’s number-one ranked Class A team, beat the Wolves in pool play Sept. 25, but Ely did knock off perenially strong Spring Grove and number-10 ranked Mabel Canton during the two-day event in Burnsville.
Ely, now 12-4 overall, also fell to fifth-rated Mayer Lutheran and number-eight Sacred Heart.
In the wake of the tournament the Wolves, who are hoping to return to state after visits in 2022, 2023 and 2024, cracked the state-ratings in the number-nine position.
“We had a great time getting to see some higher-level competition at the Class A Invitational in Burnsville,” said Ely Head Coach Megan Bialik.
“We came out a little timid on Friday night against the Class A winners, Minneota, and then Sacred Heart. We reflected on the things that we can change going into Saturday, and it was like we were a whole new team.
“We made progress with our block throughout the day on Saturday, and we started to realize that we can swing hard and use the other teams’ blocking weaknesses to our advantage.
“We made some smart moves defensively and gave it our all. I am proud of the progress we made this weekend. It was nice to come away with some wins against Spring Grove and Mabel Canton.”
Minneota (15-2) had a somewhat easy time with the Wolves on the opening night, cruising to a 25-9, 2515 sweep.
Ely’s offensive attack was largely limited, with Lydia Shultz, Charlotte Hegman and Audrey Kallberg held to three kills each.
Senior Gretta Lowe finished with 14 set assists.
The Wolves also fell 2518, 25-13 to Sacred Heart out of northwestern Minnesota.
Lowe passed her way to 15 assists in that one and also had five digs, while Shultz recorded a team-best six kills.
Next up were Kallberg with five, Hegman with three and Violet Udovich with two.
Ely came out swinging on Saturday and closed pool play with a hard-fought, 2523, 25-22 sweep of Spring Grove of southeastern Minnesota.
Kallberg was a force with seven kills, with Hegman (five), Udovich (four), Shultz (three) and Amelia Penke (two) following.
Lowe had 15 set assists and a couple of ace serves.
The Wolves were also very competitive in a 25-20, 25-20 loss to Mayer Lutheran, a seemingly annual state tournament contender.
Udovich, Kallberg and Shultz had three kills apiece and notched six set assists.
To close things out, the Wolves pulled out a 17-25, 25-18, 15-12 victory against Mabel-Canton.
Kallberg reached double digits with 12 kills. Udovich was next with eight and Shultz contributed nine.
Lowe was on her game, distributing the ball to set up Ely’s attack and finishing with 29 set assists for the contest.
Shultz had six digs, with Kallberg (five), Hegman (four) and Peyton Huntington (four) following.
• Ely has a busy week ahead, starting with Monday night’s road affair in Babbitt with local rival Northeast Range.
A Tuesday home game with South Ridge follows, and the Wolves travel to North Woods Thursday to take on the defending Section 7A champions. It will be a rematch of a 2025 7A quarterfinal won by the Grizzlies.
To close things out, Ely is part of the nine-team Mesabi East Tournament on Saturday, Oct. 10, at Aurora.
