Marquette dominated its first set against Gwinn, taking it 25-9, and then outlasted the Modeltowners in the next two sets to sweep the match in three sets. After winning the Kingsford Invitational on Friday, the Redettes have started their season with a hot start.

“Overall, I think that first set was probably closest to who we are and who we’ve been playing,” Marquette head coach Ann Crandell-Williams said. “That felt like how we ended at Kingsford. I felt like the second and third games, we struggled with our serve receive passing a little more than we usually do and that affected us. That kept us on our heels and we weren’t able to kind of have as strong of an offense that we usually have.

“We are seeing things that need work, but these girls are working hard and they love to play. We’re having fun and overall, I’m happy with tonight.”

In the first set, the Redettes went on a 10-0 run to take a commanding 15-3 lead. Maiya King was serving during that stretch, picking up two aces, while Seiler Hruska had two kills. Marquette later closed out the set with five straight points, including two kills from Hruska and another from Maria Millado.

Gwinn's Emily Curtice receives a serve in the first set as teammate Ellina Miilu looks on at Marquette Senior High School in a high school volleyball match played Tuesday. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. Jarvinen)

“The first set, we were kind of in a scramble,” Modeltowners head coach Toni Roberts said. “We knew we were coming in to face big hitters and I think their nerves got the best of them before they even started playing. I think they just were too anxious the first game and then started settling in Game 2 and Game 3.

“I just told them that we needed to calm down and play our game. They were getting us out of (our) system too much and our girls started to scramble and panic because of it. So they just settled in and put up good balls. They slowed their balls down and we were able to get back into competition with them.”

The second set was much more balanced as the teams traded points in the early going. Marquette rattled off four points, two of them on kills from Hruska, to go up 16-8, but the Modeltowners didn’t go away. With Marissa Delmont serving, Gwinn went on a 6-0 run with one of them being a Delmont ace to pull within three. However, Marquette regained control and closed it out the set with five straight points to win 25-17, the last point being a nice block from Millado.

Needing to take the third set to say alive, the Modeltowners kept up with the Redettes and at one point led 11-8 with the help of two aces from Delmont. However, Marquette rallied with six straight points, including kills from Hruska and Millado, and an ace from Celinda Brunswick to go up 15-12.

The Redettes stayed ahead the rest of the way and notched four straight points to win the set 25-18 and finish the match.

“Everybody is using the term jelling and that’s how we feel,” Crandell-Williams said. “We’re jelling really well as a team. The chemistry is really good, they’re working really hard. They accept feedback and instruction and coaching. We couldn’t really ask for any more in terms of a team dynamic right now.”

Ryan Stieg can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 252. His email address is rstieg@