At the tail end of a grueling stretch that included nine games in nine days, the Ely Timberwolves were both tired and in some trouble Tuesday night against Mt. Iron-Buhl.
But senior Amelia Penke came to her team’s rescue.
Better known as Mia, Penke was anything but MIA against MIB.
The senior had a career- high 16 kills as Ely shook off an opening set loss and downed the visiting Rangers 17-25, 25-15, 25-18, 25-19.
It was the 11th straight win for the surging Wolves, who are ranked ninth in the state in Class A but remain second in the section seedings - behind rival Chisholm.
Yet a win Tuesday didn’t seem likely early on, after the Wolves struggled through the first set and played without injured hitter Violet Udovich.
Penke, however, stepped up when her team needed it most.
“With Violet out it changes our rhythm a little bit and you could tell, but we did pick it up after the first set,” said Ely Head Coach Megan Bialik. “But Mia stepping up was perfect and what we needed. I think she is really good at finding the gaps in the block and in finding open spots on the floor.”
The Wolves faded in the first set against the Rangers, who also jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the second set before momentum shifted in a big way.
Ely got the ball to Penke and setter Gretta Lowe, who last weekend picked up her 2,000th career set assist, found the Wolves’ arsenal of hitters.
The Wolves went on a 22-8 run to close out the second set and seemed to regain whatever edge they lost early on.
MIB never really recovered and the Wolves were on their way.
While Penke led the way, two other hitters also hit double digits and there was very nearly another.
Senior Charlotte Hegman hammered home 12 kills and Audrey Kallberg added 11 more.
Another senior, Lydia Shultz, finished with nine.
Lowe notched a season best 48 set assists to go with 10 digs, while both Ruby Lowe and Peyton Huntingon had two ace serves.
Also in the hit parade was Kylee Zobitz, who wound up with five kills.
Ely seems to be surging at the right time, with Tuesday’s regular season finale with Rock Ridge looming, and then a break before Section 7A playoff action begins Oct. 26.
The Wolves figure to have home playoff tilts on both Oct. 26 and 28, with the 7A semifinals set for Oct. 30 at Rock Ridge.
“It will be nice to have this week to rest a bit,” said Bialik. “I feel like we’ve really played well these last five or six games, and I think we showed up to play an allaround game. But our bodies are starting to feel it. It feels like it’s just been ‘go go go’ ever since the (Twin) Cities tournament.”
• The Wolves never dropped a set Saturday, winning four straight games to take first place in the nineteam Mesabi East Tournament.
Ely blew out both Northeast Range and International Falls in pool play, and followed up with championship round sweeps over Mesabi East and Two Harbors.
Lowe gained her 2,000th set assist during the tournament, and had 101 for the day, including 24 as the Wolves downed Mesabi East 25-22, 25-14.
“I think she puts a lot of work into perfecting the little things that matter to her and each player,” said Bialik. “She knows every player really well and adjust her sets to who it is.”
Kallberg had seven assists, with Udovich collecting six and both Shultz and Hegman five each against the host Giants.
Ely easily took care of Two Harbors 25-12, 25-16, with Huntington pacing the defense with eight digs. She also had five ace serves.
Kallberg (seven kills) and Udovich (six) were the top hitters.
• On Monday night, Ely cruised 25-17, 25-4, 25-16 at Bigfork as Shultz delivered eight kills and Penke came up with seven of her team’s 11 ace serves.
