MT. IRON- It looked like the North Woods volleyball team would make a quick exit from Monday’s season road opener against Mt. Iron-Buhl, but the Grizzlies roared back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the match before the Rangers pulled out a 3-2 match win.
The Grizzlies took the floor shorthanded without the services of senior Olivia Udovich and junior Hannah Kinsey, so Head Coach Kandi Olson was forced into juggling players from the outset.
North Woods trailed through much of the first game, then battled back to take a 19-17 lead on the strong serving arm of senior Morgan Burnett. But tied at 23 each, a North Woods kill sailed long and MIB served up an ace for a 25-23 win.
Appearing rattled, the Grizzlies were never in the second game, losing 25-11.
“At that point, we weren’t having a really effective offense,” Olson said. “Our most effective offensive player (Burnett) was setting the ball. We had to make a change so that she could hit the ball a little bit.”
Olson’s solution was to insert sophomore Talise Goodsky into the lineup. The Grizzlies fell behind again, but righted the ship when senior Abbigail Shuster nailed a kill down the line and followed up with a service ace. With the Grizzlies getting strong play from junior Skyler Yernatich and sophomore Tori Olson, North Woods forged a 22-16 advantage and held on for a 25-22 win on another Shuster sideline kill.
Confidence renewed, the Grizzlies were all over the floor in the fourth game, diving to the floor and making acrobatic lunges for one-armed saves while controlling play at the net. Sophomore Madi Dantes scored the winning point on a clever tap to a hole in the Rangers’ defense in a game the Grizzlies won handily, 25-14.
Olson had more juggling to do for the fifth game when Goodsky had to leave the lineup.
“She had already played three games for the B-team and you can only play five games a night,” Olson said. “So we had to come up with a new game plan. I have to praise these girls for being willing to shift it up so many times in one match. That’s difficult to do, especially for kids who are so used to playing their own positions, but they were willing to try anything to get the win tonight.”
The switching didn’t slow the Grizzlies early on as they grabbed a 9-3 lead, but a series of rotations giving the Rangers favorable matchups led to a 12-11 MIB advantage. The Rangers closed out the match win with a 15-12 victory.
Burnett and Olson tied for team high in kills with eight. Burnett also dished out 20 assists and collected three blocks. Yernatich had a strong overall game, leading the team in digs with 15 while collecting six service aces and six kills.
The Grizzlies were scheduled to be back on the court on Tuesday with a road match at International Falls. North Woods will see its first home action on Tuesday, Sept. 7 against Bigfork, with the varsity match slotted at 7 p.m.