NEGAUNEE — The Negaunee varsity volleyball team made a pair of comebacks, but in the end Kingsford prevailed in a nonconference, five-set match on Thursday evening at Lakeview Memorial Gym in Negaunee.

Kingsford won by scores of 25-19, 26-28, 28-26, 20-25, 15-12. The Flivvers also won the JV match in two sets, while the Miners prevailed in the freshmen match in three sets.

“It was a hard-fought loss for our team, but also a great learning experience,” Negaunee head coach Krista Squiers said. “All of the sets were close, however we made some simple errors and couldn’t close out the match.

“Kingsford is a very well coached team…. I am pleased with our play tonight, especially with Emily Gauthier’s steady serving and setting. She had to step in several times and set up some tough plays.”

Gauthier and teammate Josephine Thomson each had three service aces.

Natalie Bell led the Miners’ attack with 11 kills, while teammate Raquel Carlson had five kills and Summer Dudo added 22 set assists.

Negaunee is scheduled to host Manistique at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday.

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Gwinn 3, Gladstone 0

On Thursday at Gwinn, the Modeltowners prevailed 25-14, 25-20, 25-18 as the Gwinn JV also won in three sets.

“I told the girls before the (match) started that the key to winning was aggressive serving, and they did exactly that with 19 aces,” said Toni Roberts, who was substituting for Gwinn head coach Kandel Ahola.

Leading the Modeltowners in the ace department was Shanna LaRock, who had eight of them to go with nine digs.

Four other Gwinn players had multiple aces, too — Jordana Hardy made four, Shaylyn Spencer three and Jada LaCount and Blaze Houle two apiece.

“We were able to serve them strong and get them out of system so we could set up our offense,” Roberts said. “It was a bit of a slower-paced game and lower energy than they are used to, but the girls still played really well, especially with several girls in new positions.”

One regular wasn’t able to play, forcing some positional changes for Gwinn.

“They communicated through the night to get the win and kept a strong positive mentality even facing new adversity,” Roberts said.

Hardy also led the Modeltowners’ attack with 10 kills while adding a team-high 12 digs. Spencer had six kills, LaCount eight kills and four digs and Houle six kills and nine digs.

Teammate Melanie Beauchamp had four kills, three digs, two blocks and 17 set assists.

Gwinn is scheduled to play at Hancock on Tuesday evening.

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Marquette 3, Gwinn 0

On Tuesday at Marquette, the Redettes prevailed in straight sets, though scores weren’t available.

“So our team came out a bit flat … and Gwinn came out fighting,” MSHS head coach Ann Crandell-Williams said. “But our players served well and eventually started picking things up defensively, and we were able to pull out that first set.

“After that we seemed to get into the groove a bit more. I’m proud of them for pushing through.”

Seiler Hruska posted a double-double, making 12 kills and 10 digs, while teammate Maria Millado led the Redettes in attacking with 14 kills and a sterling .600 attack percentage. She also had three blocks and four digs.

Marquette’s Roxy Nelson had a team-high five service aces without a serving error, adding three kills and five digs, while Katelyn Dunleavy had 24 of her team’s 28 set assists along with two digs and an ace.

And the Redettes’ Arlie Kulbieda had six digs and Taylor Marquardt five digs, two aces, a block and a kill.

Marquette is back in action on Tuesday night for a Great Northern Conference match in Gladstone.

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