ST. PAUL- The Ely Timberwolves volleyball team reset its sights on winning the consolation bracket of the Class A state tournament after dropping Thursday’s quarterfinal match at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul to Minneota 3-0.

The No. 7-seeded Wolves once again drew a powerhouse opponent in the bracket, the No. 2-seeded Vikings, despite having the best overall record of any team in the tournament at 28-3 and having lost only nine sets the entire season.. It’s likely that the Wolves received the lower seed because of the relative weakness of Section 7A, which rated seventh in the strength of sectional tournaments, and their inability to pack their schedule with opponents from larger school classifications. Five of the eight teams in the tournament played between 12-20 matches against Class AA, AAA, and AAAA teams, while Ely’s schedule had only seven Class AA matchups.

Be that as it may, the Wolves gave the Vikings all they could handle in a match where small runs made all the difference. The Wolves got off to a slow start in the first set as they trailed 6-1, but then righted the ship and played the Vikings even through 19-14 before the Vikings closed out the 25-17 win with a 6-3 run.

The second set was a scorcher, with neither team yielding as the score was tied 11 times through 20-20. But Minneota all-stater Elvia Faris scored on a kill to get the Vikings on a roll, and despite two Ely timeouts Minneota scored five consecutive points to win 25-20.

By the time Minneota had taken a 15-10 lead in the third set, it was clear that the Vikings had no chinks in their armor that Ely could exploit for a match-saving rally, and Minneota advanced to the semifinal round with a 25-16 win.

Ely’s own all-stater Lilli Rechichi led the Wolves’ attack with 11 kills, followed by Audrey Kallberg with 8. Clare Thomas and Peyton Huntington tied for the most digs with 13 each.

The Wolves were scheduled for a 3 p.m match on Friday against No. 3 New Life Academy of Woodbury, an upset victim to the Cinderella of the tourney, No. 6 Fillmore Central. A win would propel the Wolves into a 10:30 a.m. match for the consolation bracket championship, while a loss would send them home.