Volleyball roundup: IM sweeps Houghton
IRON MOUNTAIN — The Mountaineers took control early and never relinquished momentum in a 3-0 sweep over Houghton on Tuesday.
Iron Mountain won the sets 25-20, 25-13 and 25-18.
“Coming off the Kingsford loss and Gladstone loss, the team really motivated themselves verbally on the court tonight,” Iron Mountain head coach Jeanne Newberry said of last week’s losses. “Thursday night against Gladstone it was very quiet. Tonight they came out, they spoke, they communicated and hustled all over the floor.
“Sometimes luck goes your way and there were a lot of fun shots that were made. You can’t set it up that way. There was an opening, the girls were looking for openings. They did a good job. They weren’t as pushy today as they were against Gladstone.”
Emma Thomann and Mackenzie Swanson teamed up in the middle to limit 6-foot-4 senior Deja Brule at the net. Thomann and Swanson combined for seven blocks and 12 kills.
Thomann had five blocks and nine kills herself.
“Owning the net tonight — Emma Thomann. It’s hard when you have a girl who is 6-4,” Newberry said. “It’s frustrating when she tips the ball over you, and that’s what she was doing. She never swung hard. Emma timed her block and used her hands.”
Houghton took a few short-lived leads but never led by more than three points. The Gremlins struggled to find consistency in hitting the ball.
“We played OK at times, just way too many errors,” Houghton head coach John Christianson said. “Just way, way, way too many errors — hitting errors and service errors. Service errors you control. You put the ball where you want it. Hitting errors long, wide. Not transitioning properly. You just can’t do that. Iron Mountain plays too good of a defense. When you give them freebies with all those errors, they’re going to send it back at you.”
Hanna Ellis led the Mountaineers with 10 assists. Riley Poupore had a team-high 12 digs.
Iron Mountain hosts West Iron County on Thursday.
Summary:
Jenna Santini — 2 digs
Jacqui Rollins — 2 aces, 9 digs, 2 kills
Olyvea Galeazzi — 1 ace, 1 block, 6 digs, 2 kills, 2 assists
Hanna Ellis — 1 ace, 1 block, 5 digs, 1 kill, 10 assists
Lauren Lesky — 3 digs
Mackenzie Swanson — 1 ace, 2 blocks, 4 digs, 3 kills
Riley Poupore — 2 aces, 12 digs, 12 kills
Emma Thomann — 5 blocks, 6 digs, 9 kills, 1 assist
Ella Fortner — 8 digs, 1 kill
Trojans edge Wolverines
ST. NICHOLAS — A valiant effort fell just short for the Mid Peninsula Wolverines Tuesday in a 3-2 loss (27-25, 23-25, 22-25, 25-23, 15-13) to Forest Park.
“It was a tight match all the way,” said Mid Pen coach Emily Kayser. “Camryn Croasdell was out with the flu and we had to put in a brand new rotation in Monday’s practice. We had a couple errors due to a lack of communication, otherwise we adjusted pretty well. Everybody played her role. We had a lot of strong net play. It was a tough loss, but we’ll bounce back.”
Mid Pen’s Allyson Lancour hit eight service aces and Dawn Hedberg added seven. Kennedy Englund recorded 14 kills and a block. Daisy Englund tallied 17 assists and Elli Paulson had 14 digs.
Forest Park (9-13-3, 5-3 Skyline Central Conference) hosts North Central Thursday. The Wolverines visit North Dickinson on Thursday.
Niagara beats Lena
LENA, Wis. — Jasmine Racine and the Niagara Badgers outlasted Lena 3-2 (22-25, 25-21, 25-21, 24-26, 15-10) in M&O Conference volleyball Tuesday.
Racine’s 23 kills and 6 service aces paced the Badgers (7-7 M&O).
“Lena gave us a battle,” said Niagara head coach Carol St. Arnauld. “We started out strong in game one, then let errors and inconsistencies with passing and net play get the best of us.
“The following games were much the same, except that we finished stronger than we started, which helped us secure the win. We had some nice volleys with Lena and they had some really nice serves.”
Niagara’s Cassie Gill had 15 kills and Jessica Oratch added 10. Julia Brown collected 38 assists and Faith Borchardt had 20 digs.
“We did a lot a good things tonight but we need to play more consistently,” St. Arnauld said. “We need to continue to be aggressive and finish at the net.
“This team needs to believe in themselves and what they are capable of accomplishing.”
Lena’s Meckenna Portier notched 8 aces and Alayna Peterson had seven.
Niagara hosts Lena and Gillett on Thursday to conclude the regular season.
Niagara summary:
Jasmine Racine — 6 service aces, 23 kills, 3 blocks, 13 assists, 13 digs
Alyssa Cretton — 6 kills, 1 assist, 5 digs
Bailey Broullire — 1 kill
Jessica Oratch — 10 kills
Julia Brown — 1 kill, 38 assists, 10 digs
Jayden Payette — 1 ace
Isabel Wells — 7 digs
Faith Borchardt — 1 ace, 1 kill, 20 digs
Cassie Gill — 3 aces, 15 kills, 1 block, 4 digs
Olivia Brasure — 2 digs
Annalise Colenso — 8 digs
Sydney Dunkes — 1 kill, 1 assist, 1 dig
Bailey Pearson — 3 aces, 4 kills, 1 assist, 3 digs
Patriots sink Elcho
GOODMAN, Wis. — Katelyn Nelson’s 16 kills led Goodman-Pembine past Elcho 3-2 (25-23, 17-25, 19-25, 25-15, 16-14) in Northern Lakes Conference volleyball Tuesday.
The Patriots (5-8 NLC) had 11 ace serves — three each from Nelson and Sierra Dettman. Sophie Wysocki had 13 assists and Mason McLain added nine.
GP closes out the regular season Thursday by facing third-place Three Lakes at Pembine.
Summary:
Mason McLain — 1 ace, 9 assists
Sierra Dettman — 3 aces, 4 kills,
Katelyn Nelson — 3 aces, 1 assist, 16 kills, 4 blocks
Kim Mazur — 1 ace, 2 assists, 5 kills, 1 block
Kalli Erickson — 1 ace, 2 kills
Mackenna Hirte — 1 assist, 4 kills, 2 blocks
Courtney Wolford — 1 ace
Sophie Wysocki — 1 ace, 13 assist, 3 kills