FIELD TWP- The North Woods volleyball team moved to 3-0 on the season with a home win against Bigfork on Tuesday.
Pumped up playing in front of a home crowd for the first time this season, the Grizzlies fed off that energy to take command of the first set early. With Lauren Burnett at the service line, the Grizzlies turned a 3-2 deficit into a 12-3 lead. The ten-point run included three aces by Burnett and three kills by Isabel Pascuzzi. North Woods controlled the pace from there, going up as many as 10 points before claiming a 25-16 win.
The Huskies kept pace with the Grizzlies through the midpoint of the second set, trailing just 13-11 when Burnett scored a kill to give the ball back to North Woods. Burnett served up a pair of aces in a four-point flurry that extended the Grizzlies lead to 17-11. Bigfork was back to within three when a Huskies service fault put Talise Goodsky at the serve with a 20-16 lead. Goodsky ignited a five-point run with an ace and closed out the set with another as the Grizzlies won 25-16.
Needing a win to keep the match alive, the Huskies battled neck-and-neck with the Grizzlies in the third set, forcing seven ties through 16-16 and then taking a two-point lead at 18-16. North Woods came back to tie the set at 18-18, and Pascuzzi broke a 21-21 tie with a nifty push back to give the Grizzlies the lead for good. With Madison Dantes serving for the match at 24-22, the Huskies hit a weak return over the net that River Cheney slammed down for the win.
Head coach Kandi Olson talked about the flow of the match.
“I think we were excited to play at home and we came out really hot,” she said. “We did lose our mojo a little bit for awhile there – it was a little too close for comfort at times. But we were able to pull it back. I love that these girls have been able to dig deep and figure out how to get the win in tough situations. We’re growing every game. We’re growing as a team.”
North Woods was scheduled to put its spotless record on the line on Thursday with a home match against Mesabi East, and will host Deer River on Monday.