IRON MOUNTAIN – The Iron Mountain High School volleyball team swept Norway in the Class C District 95 championship on Thursday.

“All year, we’ve been talking about a team playing,” Iron Mountain coach Jeanne Newberry said. “Our Achilles’ heel has been our serve-receive. Tonight our serve-receive was much better – not where we want it. We’ve got a couple days to practice it.”

Iron Mountain won the sets by scores of 25-16, 25-19 and 25-23.

The Mountaineers play in the regional tournament on Tuesday in Gladstone.

Norway made a strong push in the third set, overcoming a 15-5 deficit to take a small lead. Iron Mountain struggled with serve-receive as the Knights rallied to take the lead.

“We just watched a 10-point lead lost on serve-receive and lack of communication,” Newberry said. “We’ve been losing games all year because of that. For them tonight to stay strong, focus on what they’re doing and come out with that win was compliments to the team.”

Iron Mountain’s leads in the first two sets after trading points with Norway. The Mountaineer rallies made it difficult for the Knights to get a point in edgewise.

Newberry liked the way her recent call-ups played, including Mackenzie Swanson, Riley Poupore and Hanna Ellis. Swanson shined with an ace, block, assist, three digs and nine kills. Poupore had a block. Ellis didn’t record a statistic, but Newberry said the presence of the three adds a good depth to the team.

“Adding those underclassmen and having one more tall person in the front row really helped us out, Mackenzie Swanson,” Newberry said. “She made Emma (Thomann) play bigger. The two of them together were a nice combination. It’s kind of young and innocent that they don’t know what to expect. They’re only sophomores, they’re not seniors looking at it with that ‘Oh my God there’s a mistake.’ The seniors, kind of put all that heaviness on them.”

Iron Mountain performance summary:

Hailey Ellis – 4 digs

Taylor Talerico – 1 block, 10 digs, 4 kills

Jordan Weslin – 1 ace, 6 digs, 2 kills

Katie Henderson – 2 aces, 4 digs, 1 kill

Hailee Zambon – 14 digs

Paige Fortner – 2 aces, 3 digs, 1 kill, 18 assists

Amber Henderson – 1 dig

Mackenzie Swanson – 1 ace, 1 block, 3 digs, 9 kills, 1 assist

Marissa Schilling – 4 aces, 8 digs

Claire Czernek – 3 blocks, 1 dig, 5 kills

Riley Poupore – 1 block

Emma Thomann – 3 blocks, 1 dig, 9 kills, 1 assist