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Wolves out to defend 7A Volleyball team starts playoff quest at home on Wednesday night
For the Ely Timberwolves, it’s a familiar drill.
Late-October brings the start of the Section 7A high school volleyball playoffs and Ely begins its quest for a third straight section title later this week.
Already winners of both the Iron Range and Arrowhead Conference crowns, the Wolves are 24-3 and will have the number-one seed in 7A as they open tournament play at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Deer River, Nashwauk-Keewatin and Littlefork-Big Falls are the possible opponents for Ely’s opener, and the Wolves will be heavy favorites to move on to Friday’s quarterfinals, also on the home court.
Other than a few hiccups at the Class A Showcase in Burnsville last month, when the Wolves met up with some of the state’s best Class A programs, Ely has been nothing short of dominant.
All but one of Ely’s best-offive matchups have been sweeps, and the Wolves haven’t lost to a 7A opponent since the 2021 7A semifinals.
Ely has reached the 7A final four in every season since 2018, and in both of the last two seasons the Wolves have rolled to section titles and berths in the state tournament, including a consolation crown last year.
The Wolves have retooled this fall, working several sophomores into the starting lineup to go with two returning hitters from last year - seniors Lilli Rechichi and Clare Thomas.
Ely captured first place at both the Greenway and Mesabi East tournaments and have picked apart local foes.
North Woods, however, looms as a potential obstacle.
The Grizzlies lost in four sets to the Wolves in an Oct. 1 clash at Cook, and four days later Ely prevailed in a best-of-three set matchup that went to a decisive third set.
Floodwood figures to be the top seed in the south half of the section, and if Ely picks up wins as expected both Wednesday and Friday this week, it would likely meet South Ridge in a Oct. 30 7A semifinal at the new Rock Ridge school near Virginia. The title game is set for Nov. 2 at Hermantown, with the 7A titlist moving on to the state tournament, Nov. 7-9 at St. Paul.
• It was Senior Night Monday, and the Wolves honored seniors Rechichi and Thomas prior to the contest with Cook County.
Ely had no trouble, never allowing the Vikings to reach double digits in any set of a 25-5, 25-8, 25-3 romp.
Thomas had 10 kills while both Rechichi and sophomore Audrey Kallberg finished with seven.
The Wolves were dominant at the serving line, recording 22 aces.
Sophomore Amelia Penke had nine of the aces, while Rechichi finished with six and both Thomas and Charlotte Hegman notched three.
Hegman added five kills, Ruby Lowe and Lydia Shultz finished with two each, while Kallberg and Gretta Lowe both had six digs.
Gretta Lowe passed her way to a match-high 31 set assists.
• Gretta Lowe passed the ball around in an Oct. 10 meeting at Nashwauk-Keewatin. She distributed the ball around on the way to 35 set assists in Ely’s 25-8, 25-10, 25-10 win.
Rechichi was a force around the net, hammering home 14 kills for the night. She added nine digs and four solo blocks.
Kallberg contributed eight kills and 10 digs for the night, with Makenzi Huntington (five kills), Hegman (four), Thomas (three), Penke (three) and Ruby Lowe (three) next on the kill chart.
Thomas added seven digs, with Rechichi delivering five aces and Gretta Lowe next with three, followed by Sadie Rechichi with two.
• The playoff home games this week are coordinated by Region 7A, no local passes accepted.
Ticket prices are $10 for adults and $5 for students and available at the door.
