Trending
IRONWOOD -- There was a little bit of movement in some portions of the rankings this week in the Upper Peninsula weekly high school volleyball polls released Monday by the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
Negaunee in Divisions 1-3 and Baraga in Division 4 remain the highest-ranked area teams in the two polls.
The Miners are 13-4 after a rough schedule last week.
Negaunee lost in three sets to both Division 4 No. 1 Hancock and D 1-3 No. 2 Kingsford in regular duals, then went to the downstate Caledonia Invitational on Saturday. At that event, the Miners lost to Otsego and host Caledonia while getting a victory over Big Rapids.
Baraga improved to a perfect 17-0 with just one match last week, a three-set win at home over Ewen-Trout Creek.
Three other area teams are receiving votes, two making the top five.
Gwinn (13-9-3) makes an appearance at No. 5 in Divisions 1-3 after being in the "others receiving votes" purgatory previously.
The Modeltowners lost in four sets at home to Marquette, then attended the Escanaba Invite and went an up-and-down 2-2-2 in a series of two-set matches. Gwinn defeated Florence, Wisconsin, and Gladstone, split (tied) with Westwood and Manistique, and lost twice to D-4 No. 2 Forest Park.
In Division 4, Newberry improved from No. 5 to a tie for No. 4 with Lake Linden-Hubbell. The Indians are 15-4-3 after losing to Pickford and defeating Escanaba at the Esky Invite.
Ishpeming (5-4-1) had been No. 4 last week but fell out of the top five while still receiving a single vote. Last week, the Hematites lost a five-setter at home to Munising and fell in three sets at D 1-3 No. 4 Houghton.
The rest of the poll remained fairly similar to the previous week, Calumet (13-8-1) still a unanimous No. 1 with a dual, three-set win over Marquette, then posting a 2-1-1 record at the Detroit Division 3-Division 4 Showdown. The Copper Kings defeated Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port and Westland Lutheran, while notching a split with and a loss to Plymouth Christian Academy.
Kingsford (11-1) had just its single match win over Negaunee last week, while No. 4 Houghton (10-4) had a win over Ishpeming and three-set loss at Division 4 No. 1 Hancock.
In Division 4, No. 1 Hancock (16-2-1) took out Negaunee and Houghton, each in three sets.
No. 2 Forest Park (26-3-1) defeated West Iron County in four sets and Munising in three sets in regular duals, then attended the Escanaba Invite for a series of two-set matches, winning all six over Gwinn, Gladstone, Manistique, Westwood, Norway and Gwinn again.
No. 5 LL-H (10-3) had just one match last week, a three-set win at Chassell.
Cedarville (16-3-5), which got one vote this week after not receiving any previously, dropped Rudyard in four sets in a regular dual, then went 4-0-1 at the Mackinac Island Tournament in a series of two-set matches, dropping Mackinaw City, Maplewood Baptist, Alanson and Burt Lake Northern Michigan Christian, while also splitting with NM Christian.
In matches over the next week involving area teams, Thursday will see Ishpeming at Westwood, Gwinn at Calumet, Menominee at Marquette, Negaunee at WIC, Rapid River at Superior Central, and Engadine at Newberry.
On Friday, a tentative matchup is listed with Dollar Bay at Baraga, while on Saturday, Marquette and Westwood will be at the Marquette Varsity Invite, with Manistique at the Indian River Inland Lakes Tournament.
Monday features Munising at North Central, while next Tuesday, Calumet will be at Negaunee, Manistique at Gwinn, Ishpeming at WIC, Hancock at Westwood, Forest Park at SC, Baraga at Ontonagon, and Brimley at Newberry.
Story contents based on email received from the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee's email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.