County volleyball teams plow through playoffs

A busy week of high school volleyball continued last week with sectional games being played on both Wednesday, Oct. 24, and Friday, Oct. 26. A number of local teams were eliminated, but there are still some intriguing matches looming on the horizon as this issue of the Pine Knot News goes to press.

In section 7AA, Esko knocked Cloquet out of the playoff picture by beating the 'Jacks 3-2 in a thriller Oct. 24 in Esko. Cloquet took the first game 26-24.

"I just told the girls to refocus after we lost the opening game," said Esko coach Desi DeLeon. "In the final game we got the lead early and we just tried to push points. The girls just didn't want the season to be over."

Esko bounced back to win the next two games, 25-17 and 25-16, before the 'Jacks fought back to a 27-25 win in the fourth game, tying the match at two games each. Esko won the deciding minigame 15-11.

"The first time we played Esko we got swept in three games, but they were two- and three-point sets," recalled Cloquet coach Heidi Anderson. "This time we were able to stay focused in those tight situations and finished off those close sets."

Esko's Dea DeLeon had a monster game with 25 digs and Sarah Wagemaker also was big with 14 set assists, 11 digs and six blocks. Among Esko's other leaders were: Taiya Gregg with 23 kills, 15 digs and three blocks; Jayden Karppinen with four ace serves and 14 digs; Brenna Stark with 15 set assists and two ace serves; and Bridget Yellin with five kills.

Savannah Sears and Alahna Ninneman led Cloquet with 14 kills and 10 kills, respectively. Sears added 16 digs and Ninneman recorded four ace serves. Olivia Diver was solid with 18 set assists and 11 digs, Emerson Rock had 16 set assists and nine digs, while Natalie Spath chipped in with 16 digs on defense.

Section 7A: Oct. 24

Moose Lake-Willow River fell 3-1 to the Cook County Vikings after losing the first two games 25-10 and 25-20. The Rebels fought back to win the third game 25-22 before bowing out of the playoffs in a 25-15 fourth-game loss Oct. 24. DonnaMae Smith led the offense with 32 set assists and Maddie Olson and Ellen Anderson finished with 13 and 12 kills, respectively.

"I personally don't think Cook County made it as tough on us - we made it tougher on ourselves," said Rebel head coach Beckie Jackson. "We've struggled with serve receive and defense all year. I have many talented hitters but we don't want to play defense. Cook County had consistent hitters (and tippers) and we failed to play defense. We lost our primary passer and great defender (in Jamie Benzie) to a torn ACL and meniscus last week, so we definitely felt it."

Also that Wednesday, the Cromwell-Wright Cardinals knocked off South Ridge 25-16, 23-25, 25-22 and 25-11.

"South Ridge came out strong and competed tough," said Cards coach Amy Granholm. "We won the first set, and then relaxed way too much in the second match. We had to fight back in our next two sets to get the win. We were able to set the ball up more in the third and fourth sets, allowing us to get more kills against them. Southridge was a scrappy team and fought hard and gave us a run."

Taya Hakamaki had 12 kills and 19 set assists for the Cards while Shaily Hakamaki was stellar with 16 kills, 10 digs and 100-percent serving. Also having solid nights from Cromwell-Wright were: Zayde Smith with six kills and 20 set assists; Josie Jokinen, who had eight kills and 100-percent serving; and Jordan Jokinen, with 100-percent serving.

"We just were on defense too much," said Panthers head coach Brad Olesiak. "The two Hakamaki girls were our main focus, but we still couldn't contain them. After the first game I told the girls to cut down on the unforced errors, and we did."

Celia Olesiak led South Ridge with 10 kills and 12 digs, Shayn Preston added 17 set assists, Natalee Smith finished with 21 digs, and Abby Almer recorded 13 digs.

Floodwood also won Oct. 24 by knocking Wrenshall out of the playoff picture by scores of 25-22, 18-25, 25-22, 21-25 and 20-18.

The Polar Bears got a big night from CJ Thompson, who had 16 kills and 30 digs on the night.

Carlton, the No. 1 seed in the subsection, downed Barnum on the same night 25-9, 25-13 and 25-19, as Taylor Nelson pounded down 16 kills. Alaina Bennett and Abby Mickle recorded 11 and 10 kills, respectively, for the Bulldogs; and Brynne Mickle finished with 40 set assists.

7AA: Oct. 26

Esko bowed out of the 7AA tourney on Friday by dropping a 3-0 decision to North Branch. The Vikings won by scores of 25-14, 25-14 and 25-15. Duluth Denfeld, Greenway and Hermantown also moved on to the semifinal round, Wednesday night.

7A: Oct. 26

Carlton captured a relatively easy victory over Floodwood by beating the Polar Bears in three straight games, 25-18, 25-11 and 25-11.

"It was a nice win for us," said Carlton coach Barb Soukkala. "Our girls played better than in the previous round. Floodwood is a scrappy team."

Abby Mickle finished with 13 kills for Carlton, and both Taylor Nelson and Alaina Bennett chipped in with nine kills. Ava Grondahl added nine kills for the 'Dogs and Brynne Mickle ran an efficient offense with 45 set assists.

Cromwell-Wright also moved into the semifinals by notching a 16-25, 25-21, 25-17 and 25-16 win over a tough Cook County squad.

The Cards got 11 kills apiece from Taya Hakamaki and Shaily Hakamaki, with Taya adding 12 set assists and 13 digs, and Shaily recording 10 digs and 100-percent serving. Zayde Smith had 15 set assists and seven digs, and Sasha Korpela added 17 digs in the back row.

As this issue of the Pine Knot went to press, the 7A tournament was taking place in Hibbing Wednesday night with Carlton opening the session against Ely, and the Cards in the next game against Deer River. Should both Carlton and Cromwell-Wright win, the finals will take place in Hibbing Saturday at 4 p.m.