M-ette JV zips past Lady Wolves

The Malta M-ette JV Volleyball team earned a clean sweep of the Lady Wolves from Wolf Point on Wednesday afternoon, 25-20, 25-20 and 16-14 earning their first victory of the week after dropping their prior two games. "We played really well together as a team in this game," said sophomore outside hitter Kristi Granlund. "We lost two games this week and that kind of stressed us out," added junior Libero Hailey Olson. "I think we just wanted to play well because we knew it was going to be our last game of the week." The M-ettes found themselves down 3-0 in the first set but roared back to an 8-4 lead following five consecutive serves by Chanel Lett – including two aces – and kills by Mary Grace Kalal and Julia Meisdalen. Malta never again trailed in the first set, though Wolf Point kept it close, and Shay Garfield knocked her final two services, the latter being an ace, to secure the 25-20 victory in the first set. In the second set, the M-ettes marched out to an early 3-10 before the two teams traded points until the game was knotted at 10. Garfield again set the table for the M-ettes with four consecutive serves to give Malta a 14-11 lead. The Lady Wolves, however, kept at the M-ettes heals and with the score narrowed to 21-20 with Malta in the lead, coach Tasha Hines called a timeout to talk with her team. "She just said to dig deep and get it back because we had it," Granlund recalled the conversation during the break in play." Dig deep they did as the M-ettes reeled off the next four points unanswered, Olson hitting all four points via serves, the set point coming on an ace for the 25-20 victory. Raleigh Hunter got the ball rolling in the third set with an ace serve and then knocked down a kill a few moments later to give the M-ettes a 3-1 lead. Granlund then knocked down two kills, Sam Mitchell nailed an ace serve and Meusdalen notched another kill and two successful serves to escape the third set with a 16-4 win and capture the match 3-0. "We were determined tonight," Granlund said. M-ette Angel Tovar goes low to make a dig while teamates Hailey Olson and Riley Mortenson look on during Wednesday afternoons match between Malta and Wolf Point in JV action.