Volleyball: IM wins West PAC, share of Mid-Peninsula title
ISHPEMING — Iron Mountain closed out the volleyball regular season Tuesday with the West PAC championship and at least a share of the Mid-Peninsula Conference title.
The Mountaineers, in a must-win situation, defeated Westwood 3-0 (25-14, 25-14, 25-20) for an unbeaten West PAC record. They had one loss in the MPC to Gladstone.
“We came out strong in the serving department,” said IM head coach Jeanne Newberry, noting 16 aces in three sets including four from Emma Thomann.
Hanna Ellis completed the night with 16 assists. Mountaineers had 25 kills overall from Thomann, Jacqui Rollins, Mackenzie Swanson and Riley Poupore.
“Defensively, Ella Fortner, Olyvea Galeazzi, Lauren Lesky, Riley Poupore and Jacqui Rollins passed well to make Hanna Ellis’ job easier to set up the hitters,” Newberry said.
In the final set, IM gained the winning point off the serve of Reagan Lundholm and kill of Jenna Santini.
The Mountaineers begin MHSAA Division 3 district play Wednesday, Oct. 31, meeting Ironwood or Calumet at 5 p.m. at Norway.
Iron Mountain junior varsity achieved an undefeated season by beating Westwood 25-9, 25-8 . They secured both the MPC and West PAC championships.
Summary:
Jenna Santini — 2 digs, 1 kill
Jacqui Rollins — 4 aces, 9 digs, 6 kills
Kalli Balmes — 1 dig
Alex Lewis — 1 dig
Olyvea Galeazzi — 2 aces, 4 digs
Mckenna Dabb — 1 dig, 1 assist
Hanna Ellis — 1 ace, 1 block, 2 digs, 1 kill, 16 assists
Lauren Lesky — 5 digs
Mackenzie Swanson — 1 ace, 2 blocks, 1 dig, 6 kills
Riley Poupore — 3 aces, 2 blocks, 8 digs, 5 kills
Emma Thomann — 4 aces, 3 blocks, 1 dig, 8 kills
Ella Fortner — 5 digs