Jacks Volleyball Shows Spunk But Falls To Grand Rapids

Aug 28

Kerry Rodd-NSO

A young Cloquet volleyball team got a firsthand look at just where they will need to be in order to contend for the Section championship at the end of the year. Despite being handled in three games by the Grand Rapids Thunderhawks, the youthful Jacks did show some spunk–looking as if they have the skill level to improve by the end of the season.

The Thunderhawks took the match 25-19, 25-18 and 25-14 as they relied on the power hitting of Kelly Niles to lead them to the wins.

Game one saw the Jacks spring out to a 4-0 lead and the game remained tight as Cloquet led it 12-9 near the midway point. However, the Thunderhawks got a thundering kill from Niles and then went on a 6-0 run that saw them pull away to the win.

While Niles was powering her team to the win, the Jacks got incredible back row play from Libero Kierra Johnson who spent her night sprawling and diving to the tune of 15 digs, most of which came of the powerful arm of Niles and her teammate Jenna Gillson.

The second game of the match was much like the first with both teams getting side out points and Cloquet holding an 8-7 edge in the score. However, like the first game, Niles crushed a cross court smash that tied the game and again the Thunderhawks rolled to a lead which eventually grew to 17-11 before the Jacks were able to respond after a time out by coach Heidi Anderson.

The end came quickly in game three as it appeared the youthful Jacks were out of steam and a bit over matched. With the game tied at 2-2 the Thunderhawks got five straight service points, including two ace serves by Jessi Corrick, rolling them to the easy 25-14 victory.

Katie Konietzko was a force early for Cloquet, but the Jacks had trouble finding her in their offense as the games wore on. Konietzko finished with 5 kills as did Maddy Kiehn.
Keanna Karulak added 15 set assists.

The loss drops the Jacks to 0-1 on the season.

Kerry Rodd can be reached at kerry@northlandsportsonline.com