Local Sports

Getting out the broom: IM wins key moments, sweeps WIC

IRON MOUNTAIN -- For the first two sets of Thursday's volleyball match between West Iron County and Iron Mountain, it was very difficult to determine which team was playing better. Both squads put together some runs, but both also saw their play fall off for periods of time.

So it really came down to which team would play better at the end of the sets. And that team turned out to be the Mountaineers. Down 22-20 in the opening set and 23-20 in the second set, Iron Mountain took charge in the crucial moments and went on to sweep the Wykons 25-23, 25-23, 25-18 in a West Pac Conference match at Mountaineer Gym.

In the first set, it was a key block and a set-winning kill from senior middle hitter Chloe Maycroft that put the Mountaineers in front.

In the second set, fellow senior Ellison Powell recorded three kills in the final four points that basically put the match away.

"They know their job is to make the big plays because the big plays change the momentum of the game," Iron Mountain coach Jeanne Newberry said.

"We kind of stated off slow, and sometimes I feel that's our biggest problem," Powell added. "But we have a group of girls that are very competitive, and I think we all fought it together and pushed ourselves through it."

Maycroft talked about the emotional challenge of attempting to alter the momentum of a match in which her team isn't playing all that well.

"It's pretty hard honestly because we have all these different emotions coming around and we're teenage girls," Maycroft said with a smile. "But I feel like we do a pretty good job of bringing ourselves up."

Conversely, the Wykons were emotionally flat and physically outmanned with starters Danica Shamion and Kaylah Hill battling illness, first-year varsity coach Konnor Bjorkman said.

"There was no energy," Bjorkman began. "I've got two girls who are clearly sicker than dogs, and I could see that the power was not there tonight. We worked hard those first two games, the second set we were up the whole time and we weren't playing our best by any means. And they know that."

While West Iron was battling those demons, the Mountaineers were trying to adjust to a tweak in their rotation by Newberry. The Iron Mountain coach said after analyzing where her team was losing points recently, she changed things a bit.

"I moved my two outsides so that I had a stronger rotation towards my fifth rotation," Newberry explained. "This rotation had better defense, but the girls weren't adjusting to the offensive play. And I was testing myself to see if I could make those players on the floor make that adjustment."

Maycroft echoed her coach.

"We run a 5-1, and we switched up our setters and put them in different positions and so we weren't working next to the same people so that was a challenge," she said. "We weren't communicating, but once we started communicating, we picked up our game."

Through it all, senior setters Emma Ellis and Leah Winch steered the ship through the rough seas. And late in the third set, Ellis even smacked a kill from the back row to big smile all around.

Newberry pointed out the importance of her setters on the outcome of the match.

"The ones that are least likely to get the recognition are Leah and Emma because they play opposite of each other," Newberry said. "But their communication is excellent."

Both teams are set to compete in today's West Pac Conference tournament at Iron Mountain High School. And then it won't be long until district play begins.

At this point, both coaches are still searching in some ways.

"I'm unhappy (tonight), but next week we have three games and none of them are conference games, so we can go into next week and hopefully bring our attitudes up and hopefully everybody rests over the weekend," Bjorkman said.

Newberry was asked if she sees more consistency in her team's play at this stage of the season.

"Have I seen (our) peak?," she asked, laughing. "You never know until the last game. But I have confidence that my players have confidence and they're learning to trust each other."