Iron Mountain senior Macy Linsenbigler blocks Norway sophomore Tessa Castlez’ shot on Tuesday at Norway High School. (Sean Chase/Daily News photo)

NORWAY — Each year, there are teams that have a roster full of veteran players while others aren’t as lucky.

On Tuesday, that played out for all to see as the Norway varsity volleyball team faced off with Iron Mountain at Norway High School.

The Knights battled to a lead in each set, but the Mountaineers’ experience was too much to overcome and IM picked up a 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-14) win.

“Coming in, I knew that Norway had a young team, and it’s getting my girls to understand that we still have the game to play,” Mountaineers head coach Jeanne Newberry said. “We’re going to run our offense. We’re going to try to do better at our offense than we have in our previous games, because our hitting has been not to par. So tonight was positive.

“The last two games, we actually had negative hitting. So for them to control their hits was better.”

For Norway, a squad with one senior, improvement is the name of the game. And on Tuesday, Knights’ head coach Erika Racine saw a lot of that.

“The ending score wasn’t what I wanted, but in all honesty, my girls played well,” Racine said. “There are a lot of things that they improved on. I’m very, very proud of them. They never gave up. They kept their energy up through the whole thing, which is hard. When you get down, it’s a very hard thing. That is one thing that they were awesome at.”

While Newberry is focused on seeing improvement from game-to-game, she likes where her team is at.

“It’s early in the season, but if this is any indication of where we’re starting, I’m gonna say, we’re starting at a good roll. I always tell the girls, the harder we work, the more towards the end of the year it’s going to show.”

Even though the WestPAC is shaping up to be a formidable conference, once again, Newberry believes her team can compete with the best.

“There’s some teams that are just going to come out and be very, very strong in our conference this year,” Newberry said. “And you know, we got to learn that we can stay with them.”

Norway’s one senior, Abby Richter, made her presence felt all over the court.

“She was all over the place,” Racine said. “I was very happy with that. She started the season out a bit slow. She did have an ankle injury, so we’ve been working through that.”

After four years in the Knights volleyball program, Racine is proud of the leadership Richter is displaying this season.

“Abby, being our only senior, she brings a lot of leadership to the team,” Racine said. “I’ve had her since she was a freshman. She’s done an amazing job, she’s one of our captains and we’re very proud of her. Ashley Carlson, my libero, she also was all over the floor,” Racine said. “She was on the floor a lot, the amount of tips she got. I was very impressed with her.”

After playing to a tie 11 times in the opening set, Iron Mountain put its foot on the gas and took control at the 17-point mark. Bella Person recorded two kills down the stretch and picked up a 25-18 win in the opener.

Norway took a 4-0 lead in the second set, after three aces from Richter and a kill from Payton Paquette. However, Macy Linsenbigler recorded two blocks and an ace to put the Mountaineers ahead. They never looked back and cruised to a 25- 14 win in set two.

In the third set, the Knights jumped out to an early lead again. But a kill from Linsenbigler swung the momentum back in Iron Mountain’s direction and it went to work. After pushing the lead to 10 points, Person sealed the deal with a block and the Mountaineers won, 25-14.

Linsenbigler led Iron Mountain with three blocks. She also had 12 kills.

The Mountaineers are home today against Calumet while the Knights return to play today in Crystal Falls.

NORDICS 3, ROCKETS 0

FELCH TOWNSHIP — After a rough opening weekend in Kingsford, The North Dickinson varsity volleyball team continues to roll through the early portion of its 2024 schedule as it picked up a 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-18) win over Rapid River on Tuesday at North Dickinson County Schools.

“Rapid River came out really scrappy and kept up their energy the whole game,” Nordics head coach Taylor Anderson said. “There were moments when we would make good runs, but they kept fighting back. I thought that we had some uncharacteristic mistakes both at the serving line as well as at the net. But I am proud of the team for pushing through.”

“As much as we struggled tonight, I also think we had some bright moments that we can capitalize on moving forward. Jessica Harwath and Kiira Ledzian both displayed excellent leadership on the floor, while Raina Ledzian not only delivered beautiful assists to her teammates, but was able to attack the open floor when she saw the opportunity.

Junior Raina Ledzian led the way for North Dickinson with 23 assists. She also tallied seven kills, three aces and seven digs.

The Nordics also received contributions from Hailee Siegler (2 kills, 1 ace, 6 digs), Jessica Harwath (6 kills, 2 assists, 1 ace, 8 digs), Aubrey Applekamp (7 kills, 2 assists, 4 aces, 1 dig), Dakota Massie (2 kills, 2 aces, 3 digs), Maddie Miller (1 kill), Hope Schuiteman (2 digs), Kiira Ledzian (2 kills, 1 ace, 10 digs), Nadia Carpenter (1 kill, 2 digs) and Cami Sleeter (5 kills, 1 assist).

North Dickinson heads to Carney today for a contest against Carney-Nadeau.

BADGERS 3, WILDCATS 1

LENA, Wis. — The Niagara varsity volleyball team found itself behind after one set in Lena, Wis. on Tuesday. The Badgers didn’t let that faze them and rallied to beat Lena, 3-1 (19-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-18).

“I’m very happy for my girls for getting this win after making some adjustments in practice last week,” Niagara head coach Maryellen Allred said. “We started out a little slow in the first set — our feet weren’t moving and our power wasn’t there. After falling in the first set, we started to come alive.

“I am proud of our blockers and our defense for reading the cues and executing. Two of my senior captains, Raegan (Frappier) and Mallory (Sanicki), really started to perform to their potential and made smart, strong plays at the net to lead the team.”

Elesia Sweig led the Badgers with 22 assists. She also tallied 11 digs and two aces.

Niagara also received contributions from Rachael Walker (4 aces, 5 kills, 11 digs), Raegan Frappier (2 aces, 12 kills, 16 assists, 10 digs), Peyton Allred (1 ace, 3 kills, 1 assist, 17 digs), Alyssa Hedmark (1 kill), Grace Payette (1 ace, 9 digs), Bristol Sanicki (5 kills, 2 blocks, 1 assist, 4 digs), Addison Wheeler (3 digs), Mallory Sanicki (6 aces, 15 kills, 4 blocks, 2 assists, 8 digs) and Alivia Kleikamp (7 kills, 1 dig).

Niagara is home today for a triangular with Gillett and Suring.