Ishpeming’s Jenessa Eagle, top center, follows through on a big hit over the net at Iron Mountain’s Bella Person during their Mid-Peninsula Confernece and West PAC match played at the Mountaineers’ gym in Iron Mountain on Sept. 4. (Photo courtesy Terry Raiche)

MARQUETTE — Gladstone needed four sets before prevailing at Marquette in a high school volleyball match played Tuesday evening at the Sentinels’ Barb Crill Gymnasium.

With Marquette winning the opening set, the Braves (9-12) pulled off a 15-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-23 victory.

“(This was a) good battle and close scores, but a tough loss for Marquette,” MSHS head coach Melissa Butler said in an email detailing the result. “The team showed strong effort and determination throughout the match.

“We continue to grow together and build on each performance.”

They’ll need that growth as the Sentinels (9-14-1) have just two regular-season matches remaining. They play at Kingsford at 6 p.m. EDT today, then travel to Escanaba for a match at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

The following week will be the MHSAA district tournament in Division 1 for Marquette.

Calumet on top

In this week’s Upper Peninsula high school volleyball poll conducted by the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association, Calumet took over the top spot in Divisions 1-3 in a surprise move after season-long No. 1 Kingsford suffered its first two losses of the season at its own Clash of the Divisions held Saturday.

Calumet, with a much more modest 18-10-1 record, did its job by defeating Negaunee and Westwood last week, then taking out the Flivvers and Marquette at the Kingsford event. The Copper Kings also lost to Division 4 No. 1 Forest Park at the Clash.

Calumet’s win over Marquette was 25-14, 25-15, 25-15.

Kingsford, which still has an impressive 19-2 mark, took out Menominee and Gladstone in three sets apiece last week, then also downed Marquette while losing to FP and Calumet at its own tourney.

The Copper Kings got two first-place votes and the Flivvers one as Calumet also held a single point advantage in the voting, 14-13.

Negaunee (18-8-4) held onto its No. 3 position with nine voting points in Divisions 1-3, losing to Calumet in four sets and beating Jeffers in five sets last week, then defeating Sault Ste. Marie, losing to Manistique and splitting a pair of sets with both Indian River Inland Lakes and St. Ignace at the Inland Lakes Invitational on Saturday.

The busy Miners also split a pair of matches at the annual WIN meet on Monday, sweeping Westwood in two sets and losing a three-setter to Division 4 No. 3 Ishpeming.

Houghton (8-6) is No. 4 with six points after a five-set win over Jeffers last week, with its record not taking into consideration a four-set home loss to Calumet on Tuesday.

And Manistique (14-9-3) moved back into the No. 5 spot in D 1-3 after being out of the rankings for a week. With three voting points, the Emeralds knocked off Gwinn in five sets and Marquette in three sets last week, then defeated Negaunee, Inland Lakes and Bellaire and lost to Alpena twice at the Inland Lakes Invite, and didn’t even get to count Tuesday’s three-set victory over Menominee for voters’ consideration.

In Division 4, Forest Park (34-1) continues to be a unanimous No. 1 with all three first-place votes and a perfect 15 points after posting dual wins over Superior Central and Rapid River last week, then taking out Calumet, Kingsford and Marquette without losing a set at the Clash of the Divisions on Saturday.

And after voters cast their ballots, the Trojans also swept West Iron County on Tuesday.

FP’s only loss came back on Aug. 23 to Saginaw Valley Lutheran in the semifinals of the season-opening Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart Invitational after the Trojans had earlier swept the downstate team in the same event. VL has a 35-8-3 record playing in Division 3.

The rest of Division 4 also remained in the same order, with No. 2 Hancock (22-3-2) getting 12 votes after downing Westwood and Ishpeming last week and not even getting to count a win over No. 4 Lake Linden-Hubbell on Tuesday.

No. 3 Ishpeming (17-5-2) earned nine points after its impressive win over D 1-3 No. 3 Negaunee at the WIN meet Monday, adding in wins over Westwood at that event and a victory over WIC and loss to No. 2 Hancock last week.

No. 4 LL-H (22-4) got four points with wins in five sets over Baraga last week and in three sets over Jeffers on Monday.

And No. 5 Wakefield-Marenisco (18-7) got three points after taking out Dollar Bay and Bessemer last week.

Getting a single vote but missing the top five were Munising (14-6-1) and St. Ignace (22-7-5).

The Mustangs defeated North Central in three sets and Superior Central in four sets last week, and didn’t get to count a three-set victory at Rapid River on Tuesday.

St. Ignace posted a four-set win over Rudyard and three-set triumph over Cedarville last week, then at the Inland Lakes Invite, downed Rogers City and Bellaire, got a win and took a loss vs. the Soo, and got a two-set split with Negaunee.

The Saints also lost a three-setter to Newberry on Tuesday that couldn’t be considered by the voters.

Story contents based on emails received from Marquette head coach Melissa Butler and the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.