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NEGAUNEE — Senior outside hitter Brooke Mannor led Gwinn with 16 kills and two aces to propel the Modeltowners to a 3-1 high school volleyball victory over Negaunee at Lakeview Memorial Gym on Thursday night.

Gwinn prevailed 25-12, 23-25, 25-16, 25-22 to improve to 3-2 in dual matches this season. The Miners fell to 2-6.

Modeltowners head coach Toni Roberts said her team was forced to battle back after the Miners took a hard-fought second set.

Negaunee's Alexa Gravedoni, left, lunges for a tipped ball by Gwinn as teammate Sierra Hendrickson also makes a play for it during their high school volleyball match played at Lakeview Memorial Gym in Negaunee on Thursday night. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. Jarvinen)

“I’m very happy,” she said. “We were hoping for a sweep tonight after our first sweep of the season on Tuesday, so we wanted to sweep this week.

“That didn’t quite happen, but our girls came back after the (second set) loss and played really hard.”

Roberts also credited senior setter Megan Ruokolainen, who led the Modeltowners defensively with 23 digs.

“Megan had an outstanding night,” she said. “I think (tonight) was her breakout night. She just moved to a setter at the beginning of this year, so it’s a brand-new position for her.

“Her sets were beautiful, she played hard, her serves were great. She had a standout night.”

Miners head coach Sarah MacDonald said not playing consistently throughout each set was a key reason for the defeat, despite the effort from her team.

“We didn’t have the best start to any of the sets really, but we definitely found a way in the second set to pull through for that one,” MacDonald said. “All of the girls are working hard. Our substitutes did good as well, we put all 10 players on the court.

“We had good moments, but really couldn’t keep it all together for the whole night.”

Gwinn took the first five points of Set 1, one a service ace from junior outside hitter Emily Curtice.

Runs of 9-2 and 5-0 propelled the Modeltowners as the set ended on a kill from junior setter Marissa Delmont.

Set 2 saw the Miners jump out to an early lead, getting the first three points, one an ace by Chloe Norman. Gwinn got on the board after that on a service error from Norman.

Later in the set with the Miners up 21-17, the Modeltowners scored six consecutive points to take a 23-21 lead. Then Negaunee earned the last four and the set ended on a kill by Norman.

Gwinn cruised in Set 3 after racing out to a 9-0 lead. The Miners pulled within six twice during the set, but that’s as close as they came. The set ended on a kill by Mannor.

Set 4 was a close one all the way through despite the Modeltowners pulling out to an early 10-4 lead.

Negaunee climbed back and eventually tied it 12-12 before Gwinn got the next three points. The teams were tied again at 16-16 and followed with more back-and-forth sequences.

The Modeltowners went up 22-18 on an ace by senior defensive specialist Larissa Wixtrom. Though the Miners pulled back within two at 24-22, the set and match ended on an attack error.

In addition to Mannor’s big numbers, Curtice added eight kills and seven service aces, while senior middle blockers Hannah Noel and Sydney St. Clair added six kills each for the Modeltowners. Delmont had 24 assists while Ruokolainen had 16 assists and four aces.

Norman led the Miners with 11 kills while Abbie Tollefson contributed seven. Sierra Hendrickson had three kills and two aces while Natasha Symons led in assists with 32.

Both teams will participate in the Redette Rumble Invitational tournament at Marquette Senior High School that starts at 8:30 a.m. Saturday.

Email Ryan Spitza at sports@miningjournal.net.