Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By JASON JUNO
MARQUETTE — Wakefield-Marenisco junior Noelle Grace earned a spot on the All-U.P. volleyball team for the second year in a row.
After making the Division 4 First Team last year, Grace this year became one of 16 Dream Team selections in voting at last week’s second annual volleyball meeting of the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
Ironwood’s Audra Pawlak and Hanna Vaughn were selected to the Division 1-3 First Team with a trio of Ewen-Trout Creek players named to the Division 4 First Team — Bree Besonen, Irelynd McGeshick and Emma Besonen.
Grace, a 5-11 outside hitter and middle back defensive player, finished second in Elite Team voting by Copper Mountain Conference coaches before being selected to the U.P. Dream Team.
She averaged 20 kills per match and finished with 421 kills. She also had 315 digs and 107 aces for the Cardinals. She led W-M to a 20-6-1 record.
“She is driven and motivates all of the team to keep pushing no matter what the circumstances are,” W-M coach Kim Belmas said. “Her leadership skills is why I have her as my floor captain.”
Jeffers’ hitter Mia Nordstrom, a junior, was the only other Copper Mountain Conference player to make the Dream Team.
Pawlak, a 5-10 senior middle hitter, led the Red Devils with 273 kills and 57 blocks.
“Audra is a force at the net,” Ironwood coach Lisa Fechter said. “She was our go-to hitter, with lots of power.”
Pawlak also made the Copper Mountain’s Elite Team.
Vaughn, a 5-2 senior libero, was the Copper Mountain Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year the past two years. She tallied 460 digs this season and 1,099 for her career.
She also finished the year with a total of 69 aces.
“She is all over the backcourt with a very tough jump serve,” Fechter said. “She is a tiny girl with lots of determination and fight.
“She kept us in every game with her competitiveness.”
The Red Devils advanced to the district final in their first year after moving back up to Division 3.
They upset Jeffers in the district semifinal in an exciting five-set match in Painesdale, but they lost in the final to traditional powerhouse Calumet, the No. 1 ranked large school all year in the Upper Peninsula.
Ironwood finished the season with a record of 27-18-2.
Bree Besonen was the Panthers’ top all-around player this year, E-TC coach Kaitlin Ruotsala said. The 5-3 freshman plays all positions with her ability to read the floor along with her quickness and strength, Ruotsala said.
Besonen had perhaps her best game in the championship game to give the Panthers their first district title.
“(She) demonstrated her true ability to read the floor, she knew when to attack hard and when to tip or push and where to play the ball,” Ruotsala said. “She again led defensively in this district game, just as she has all season.”
She finished with a 99% service rate with 20 aces, a 97% success attack rate with 111 kills and was 78% on digs. She’s also the team’s top serve receive to target, Ruotsala said.
“Bree has a dedication to the sport like no other and is always looking to improve,” Ruotsala said.
McGeshick, a 5-11 junior hitter-blocker, led the Panthers with 258 kills.
“Irelynd is our strongest front-row player,” Ruotsala said.
Emma Besonen, a 5-1 junior setter, is the Panthers’ floor captain. She finished the regular season with 274 assists plus 58 more in the two district games.
“She is great at reading the opponent’s offense, calling out where the attack will be going and communicates it well,” Ruotsala said. “Whether our serve received, our digs are spot on, or shanked across the floor, Emma manages to get a clean set up for us to attack.”
Hancock advanced to the state semifinal and was awarded U.P. Team of the Year honors in Division 4. They beat E-TC in the regional semifinal.
The Bulldogs’ Brooke Koskela was the D-4 Defensive Player of the Year with Forest Park’s Ava Fischer Offensive Player of the Year. The Trojans were ranked No. 1 in the U.P. D-4 poll all season.
Koskela averaged 4.4 kills, 3.7 digs and 1.2 aces per set. Fischer tallied 335 kills and 273 digs in the regular season.
Calumet’s Allie Bjorn was named Ms. Volleyball and the regional finalist Copper Kings were Team of the Year.
Bjorn led the Copper Kings, who advanced farther than any other U.P. large school, with a 3.6 kills per set average and she had 3.1 digs per set.
Calumet lost to Traverse City St. Francis in the regional final in five sets. They were missing First Team hitter Maddie Torola.
Kingsford’s Maddy Kreider was Defensive Player of the Year in Divisions 1-3. She averaged 3.8 kills, 2 blocks, 3.8 assists and 3.3 digs per set.
