As the high school volleyball season heads into its home stretch, the stateranked Ely Timberwolves seem to be picking up steam.
In the span of six days, Ely scored three consecutive sweeps and ran its record to an impressive 15-4 for the fall.
The Wolves used their potent array of weapons to sweep South Ridge 25-14, 25-18, 25-10 during their “Dig Pink” cancer awareness night at the Memorial Gymnasium.
Ely also swept Northeast Range and Nashwauk-Keewatin on the road, solidifying its spot among the area’s top teams as the regular season moves into the final two weeks.
The Wolves travel to Aurora today to take part in the Mesabi East Touranment, and home contests on Oct. 13 (Mt. Iron-Buhl) and Oct. 20 (Rock Ridge) are set in advance of the Section 7A playoffs, which begin at home sites Oct. 26.
It’s almost certain that the Wolves will be seeded either first or second in the north half of 7A, with rival Chisholm to take the other spot.
C h ishol m b eat t he Wolves in a five-set thriller in mid-September and the teams could be on a collision course for a high-stakes postseason rematch.
The Wolves continue to gather momentum as the playoffs approach.
Senior setter Gretta Lowe distributed the ball against South Ridge, and Ely used a variety of hitters to dispose of the Panthers.
Lowe finished with a match-high 32 set assists, and five Ely hitters had at least four kills.
Senior Lydia Shultz led with nine and Audrey Kallberg followed with four as the Wolves dominated and were never threatened.
South Ridge stayed within single digits in the middle set, but the outcome never seemed to be in doubt as Ely rolled.
Charlotte Hegman contributed seven kills to the Ely attack while Violet Udovich was next with five and Amelia Penke finished with four.
Lowe had six digs and Shultz finished with five, and Ely was effective at the serving line with 11 aces over the course of the matchup.
Shultz and Kallberg delivered three each.
• The Wolves had a slight hiccup in the second set of Monday night’s game at Northeast Range, but otherwise the contest wasn’t much of one.
Ely swept 25-14, 25-17, 25-5, but the pesky Nighthawks got out to a 9-2 lead in the second set.
Things changed after an Ely time out and the Wolves outscored the Nighthawks 23-8 for the remainder of the set and by a whopping 48-13 for the rest of the evening.
Kallberg reached double digits with 11 kills, with Udovich (seven), Penke (seven), Shultz (five), Hegman (three) and Kylee Zobitz (two) next in line.
Lowe had a big night, finishing with 32 set assists and nine digs.
• Kallberg dominated at the net in an Oct. 1 game at Nashwauk.
The Wolves downed the Nashwauk-Keewatin Spartans 25-11, 25-13, 25-13, with Kallberg hammering home 15 kills and Udovich adding another 10.
Hegman notched eight kills, Shultz contributed another seven and Penke wound up with five.
Lowe added to her assist total with 38 for the evening.
