In the end, though, Escanaba prevailed 25-19, 25-13 and 25-11.

The first set saw the Escanaba Eskymos in the lead with the Redettes lingering close. As Marquette took the lead, Escanaba just as quickly won it back. Points were won for both teams at a steady pace, but the Eskymos still prevailed.

The Eskymos again got off to a fast start in Set 2, though the Redettes caught them at 9-9. The tie didn’t last long as the Eskymos counted off 10 points in a row.

Nearly all the points scored by Escanaba were balls that were too fast for Marquette to keep up with, rendering them dead on impact.

While the Redettes got four more points, it wasn’t enough to put much of a dent in the final score of the set.

The third set started with a very quick 9-1 lead for Escanaba.

With a kill from Escanaba’s Katelyn Stalboerger, the Eskymos claimed the match victory at 25-11, making them GNC champions.

“She’s been a great player… all the way through,” Escanaba head coach Adam Lambert said of Stalboerger. “She joined my team as a freshman and spent four years with me and today she’s blocking and hitting. She’s been a tremendous force this year.”

It was the Redette girls’ last home match of the season.

After it was over, Marquette students, parents, friends and family gathered to hear the Redettes honor their senior girls. Teammates told funny anecdotes about the girls or what they appreciated about them.

Celebratory Senior Night cake and banana bread was served in the cafeteria.

“Even the seniors… were kind of in the shadows last year… They really stepped up…They’re hard workers…I think they’ve improved so much and that’s really what’s important.” Marquette head coach Ann Crandell-Willams said.

———————–

Kingsford 3, Marquette 0

On Thursday at Marquette, the Flivvers prevailed in three straight sets, 26-24, 25-17, 25-18.

“I’m proud of them,” Marquette’s Crandell-Willams said. “I mean, I think our girls played aggressively, offensively, took a lot of good, hard swings at the ball.

“I thought they served as good if not better than they served all year. Scrappy defense, they did a lot of things right.

“They’ve come a long way since the beginning of the year and I’m really proud of them.”

Kingsford took the lead in the first set, doubling Marquette’s throughout the early part of the set until it was 19-10.

That when the Redettes scored 10 straight points to actually go ahead 20-19.

But the Flivvers had their own turnaround and pulled out the first-set victory.

Kingsford took the lead once again to start the second set. However, the Redettes made their comeback much more quickly.

Eventually, though, Marquette got stuck at 17 points as Kingsford won the set.

The third set was a much tenser and closer fight. A back-and-forth start saw the teams tied 7-7.

Near the midpoint of the set, Marquette’s Hetty Fuess took a fall and injured her leg, taking her off the court.

But Crandell-Williams marveled at her play while she was in there.

“Hetty Fuess had a fantastic night,” her coach said. “That was probably the best she did all year.

“Just super proud of her, came out with a lot of aggressive swings and it’s sort of that we all know we all see it in practice, but she was really just able to kind of come through in a match tonight and she also served brilliantly.”

At that point, the Redettes took the lead until they were tied again at 12. But the Flivvers came back in and kept a healthy lead until they sealed the deal.

Email Alexandria Bournonville at abournonville@miningjournal.net.