MARQUETTE — Gwinn reached the championship match of The Rock high school volleyball tournament on Saturday before falling to host Gladstone in three sets.

The Modeltowners were 6-2 in pool play to advance to the semifinals.

“Overall we had a great day,” GHS coach Toni Roberts said. “We were able to beat Houghton in the semifinals, which was great after losing a conference match to them last week.

“Gladstone had a great home crowd behind them for the finals and carried the momentum for most of the second and third sets.

“After 10 hours in the gym, we just couldn’t get in a groove enough to put together a good run.”

Roberts credited senior captain Brooke Mannor for her play as she was named to the all-tournament team.

Gwinn got a taste of what the finals would be like by opening pool play against Gladstone, losing 25-21 and winning 25-16.

Then the Modeltowners swept Rapid River 25-21, 25-21; split with Kingsford, 21-25, 26-24; and swept Ishpeming 25-13, 25-18.

In the semis, Gwinn played the No. 1 team from the other pool, the Gremlins, and pulled off a three-set victory, 20-25, 25-19, 16-14.

In the finals, the host Braves prevailed 24-26, 25-14, 15-11. In the first set, the Modeltowners came from nine points behind to win, while in the third set, Gwinn led 10-5 before Gladstone went on a seven-point run.

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Marquette 2nd in Silver Bracket

At the Mitten Bay Invitational Saturday, Marquette finished runner-up in the Silver Bracket of an event held at Bay City Central.

Playing all Lower Peninsula schools, the Redettes compiled a 7-6 record in the 13 sets they played.

“(We) played very well throughout the tournament against some of the best competition we have seen all year,” MSHS coach Mike Morgan said. “There many positives and strong contributions across the board.

“The team played through some adversity with key players suffering from injuries. I am very proud of the effort and how resilient this group is.”

Marquette went 2-4 in pool play, spliting with Essexville Garber 25-21, 21-25, losing to Freeland 21-25, 21-25 and splitting with Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker 25-21, 24-26.

That placed the Redettes in the Silver Bracket, where they opened with a sweep of Monroe Jefferson 25-11, 25-20 and Alpena 25-23, 25-18, to advance to the finals, where Beaverton won, 25-21, 23-25, 15-11.

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Munising wins 2 sets

At the Petoskey Invitational on Saturday, Munising split a pair of two-set matches and was swept in another two against Lower Peninsula competition.

The Mustangs split with Benzie Central 25-13, 24-26, and Pellston 19-25, 25-17.

Munising also lost 25-18, 25-9 to Onaway and 25-9, 25-13 to Class A Petoskey.

“We had moments of solid play, but (we) continue to need to work on consistency,” Munising co-coach Ann Crandell-Williams said. “We can usually depend on our tough serving, but even that was not up to par for us.

“Michaela Werner played tough at the net and Taylor Downs ‘passed nails’ on serve receive.”

For the day, Werner led the Mustangs in three area — 22 kills, which also included just four errors, seven service aces and six blocks.

Downs had six digs, four kills and three aces, while Taylin Behning led MHS with 31 digs.

Teammate Daryn Johnson had 13 kills, 11 digs and six aces; Emily Contreras 52 set assists, 12 digs and four aces; Cheyenne Graves seven kills; Megan Mattson seven digs, four aces and three kills; and Kaila Cotey five kills and three digs.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.