ELY — The Timberwolves volleyball team opened a new season this week with back-to-back matches, taking a 3-0 road win against Deer River and falling to Greenway at home 1-3.
With last year’s mainstays Clare Thomas and all-stater Lilli Rechichi, a young Wolves team will be counting on the leadership of the squad’s two seniors, Sadie Rechichi and Makenzi Huntington, as they look to maintain their dominance in Section 7A this season.
Tuesday’s match against the Class AA Titans got off to an exciting start. Ely led by as many as five points midway through the first set, and the Wolves were up 20-14 when the Titans suddenly found their rhythm. Greenway fought back to forge a 23-21 lead. But after a Greenway service fault, junior Gretta Lowe came up with a pair of tricky serves that the Titans couldn’t handle to put the Wolves back in the lead 24-23.
A series of furious rallies ensued, with Ely finally squeaking out a 29-27 win.
That momentum didn’t carry into the second set, however, as the Titans came out of the break firing on all cylinders, scoring seven points before Ely got on the board. The Wolves struggled against Greenway’s power hitters as they fell behind 14-3, and the Titans cruised to a stunning 25-8 win.
The Wolves pulled themselves together and came back stronger in the final two sets, staying close early in both and holding an 11-8 lead in the fourth, but the Titans had too much firepower as they closed out the match victory with wins of 25-21 and 25-18.
Ely Head Coach Megan Wognum said the match gave the team insight into what they need to work on as the season progresses.
“I would say that we learned a lot from that match,” Wognum said. “We came into it with an open mind, knowing that they have good swings and we just had to play our defense, and we struggled a little bit with the block. We’re going to work on tightening that up.”
Deer River
Monday’s opener at Deer River was more to the Wolves’ liking, as the Wolves streaked to a 25-10 win in the first set.
The Warriors put up a tougher challenge in the second, but Ely hung on for a 25-22 win. The Wolves reasserted themselves in the third, sweeping the match with a 25-16 victory.
“We came out on top at the end and it was a nice start,” Wognum said. “We’re definitely rebuilding, and we’re still reconfiguring, if you want to think of it like that, just figuring out where we best fit and where our chemistry flows.”
The Wolves will be back in action on Tuesday when they host Littlefork-Big Falls.