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Iron Mountain spikers triumph at FP Invite

(Matt McCarthy/Daily News photo) Iron Mountain's volleyball team poses after winning the 2021 Forest Park Invitational on Saturday at the Eddie Chambers Memorial Gymnasium in Crystal Falls. Team members pictured are: Kneeling, from left: Lexi Partello (6), Leah Winch (4), Emma Ellis (10), Shyanne Pearce (3) and Amelia Stohl (48). Standing, from left: assistant coach Emma Thomann, Chloe Maycroft (19), Annslee Runsat (8), Ellison Powell (13), Bella Tregillis (46) Bella Rosenthal (17) and head coach Jeanne Newberry.

CRYSTAL FALLS — From a field of seven teams, it came down to Dickinson County foes Iron Mountain and North Dickinson in the best 2-of-3 championship, with the Mountaineers coming back from a 1-0 deficit to defeat the Nordics, 2-1 (14-21, 21-16, 15-6) in Saturday’s Forest Park Invitational.

The host Lady Trojans and a young Florence, Wis., team made the semifinal round after pool play eliminated West Iron County, Munising and Carney-Nadeau from the tournament at the Eddie Chambers Memorial Gymnasium in Crystal Falls. Stephenson, the 2019 champion, scratched late in the week, said Lisa Olson, FP athletic director.

Both the championship match participants were in Pool B with West Iron County and came out with 3-1 records. However, via tie breaker, the Nordics were seeded No. 1 going into the semifinals.

“Every time we’ve played Iron Mountain this year has been in a tournament, and we have always won the first set and they won the second. Today in pool play was the same outcome,” Nordics head coach Taylor Johnson said. “Every team we played gave us a challenge in one way or another today, and the girls played very solid all day, I am proud of them.”

The Nordics showed strong serving in the first set of the championship match,. IM senior Annslee Runsat established her presence at the net in the opening set, but the Mountaineers’ communication wasn’t as sharp in set one as it became by the end of the match, with Nordics taking a seven-point win.

Both teams served well in the second set, with a slight edge going to the Mountaineers. However, it was the communication and floor presence of the Mountaineers that gave them the edge in the set.

“It was in the second set versus ND in the finals that the girls really stepped up their play,” veteran Iron Mountain head coach Jeanne Newberry said. “We were behind in the set and in the match, and the girls really started playing well at that point.”

Iron Mountain came back from a slim deficit in the set to force a third, winner-take-all final set.

“A third tiebreaker set in tournaments are 15 points and go by fast — you have to come out strong and have it in your heart to win,” Newberry said.

In the final set, with momentum on their side, the experienced Mountaineers powered their way to a nine-point win behind very strong serving to take the tournament championship back to Dickinson County.

“There was great play at the net and in the back row for us. The girls were tired, as was everyone, from playing all day, but they did what they needed to do,” Newberry said.

Johnson pointed to the strong net play from Kassandra Cary and the strong overall play of Ashton Hord for North Dickinson.

The Florence Ladycats, who were undefeated at 6-0 in pool play, fell to the Mountaineers in the semifinals, 2-1 (14-21, 21-18, 15-12). Florence has no seniors on their 2021 roster.

“Improvement and a lot of it — that’s what we showed in Saturday’s tournament,” Florence head coach Teresa Chrisman stated via email. “We have been nursing injuries and the mental side of that recently. Morgan Tomczak was a beast at the net, leading the way with 32 kills and five tip kills and four block kills. We came out and dominated pool play, defeating Forest Park, Carney-Nadeau and Munising.

“We played a very strong serving and scrappy Iron Mountain squad in the semis. We fell just a little short, due to young, mental errors, but hats off to Iron Mountain. We need a more balanced hitting attack as a team. All and all, we can build on this performance and I am happy with how they played,” Chrisman added.

“Florence played well. They have such a young team, and today was a tough schedule for them, they impressed me,” Newberry said. “Young players are fearless in these type tournaments, and they were today.”

Tyley Fyvie served 13 aces for Florence, while Maddie Johnson led with 40 assists. The lone 100% server on the day for the Ladycats was Morgan Tomczak.

The host Lady Trojans went 4-5 on the day, defeating Carney-Nadeau in one set and sweeping Munising, 2-0. FP also defeated the Nordics in the opening set of the semifinal match that took place in the elementary gym.

“Overall we had an OK day, but there were games that the girls played awesome. They played together, moved and communicated really well,” Forest Park head coach Bobbie Jo Anderson said. “Then we had games where we couldn’t get any momentum and struggled to get points on the board.

“Charlie Larson had a great day serving for us, she was consistent and helped us gain momentum when we needed it. I think Audrey Franz had a great day as well, she is a freshman playing on varsity this year and she had some key kills and serves for us. We are looking forward to continuing our season and growing as a team,” Anderson added.

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