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Sharing the crown

Escanaba wins GNC meet, shares title with Sault Ste. Marie

Escanaba’s Taleise Lawrence serves the ball in a game against Menominee at Marquette Senior High School Saturday afternoon. (Journal photo by Corey Kelly)

By RYAN SPITZA

Journal Sports Writer

MARQUETTE — Escanaba went 4-0 on the day and earned a share of the Great Northern Conference regular season crown while Marquette finished 2-2 on the day at the GNC Tournament at Marquette Senior High School on Saturday.

The Eskymos shared the regular season title with Sault Ste. Marie who finished the tournament in the runner-up position with a record of 3-1. Marquette was third followed by Kingsford and Menominee in fourth and fifth respectively.

The Eskymos held a record of 10-2 going into the tournament and Escanaba head coach Adam Lambert said teamwork was the key to his team’s success today and all season.

“We’re excited,” he said.

“Our girls came to play and we came out undefeated,” he said. “Just the teamwork today, the unity, the girls played together and they’re excited, so they were all phenomenal. No matter who I put in, they played as a team.”

Sault Ste. Marie head coach Lisa Moran said a GNC title was the goal all season.

“That was our goal coming in,” she said.

“We were undefeated coming into the tournament. We did everything we wanted to do. Every match, we fought through.”

The tournament was set up in a round-robin format, with each team playing each other once for a total of four matches in all.

Each match was a best-of-three format, different from the usual best-of-five.

The Redettes’ two wins came against Kingsford and Menominee, defeating the Flivvers in three sets (25-19, 19-25 and 15-7), and the Maroons in two sets (25-14, 25-19).

Marquette is now 4-6 in match play and 4-4 in the GNC.

Marquette head coach Mike Morgan said hosting the tournament was special for MSHS.

However, he would like to see his team play with more consistency.

“It was nice to see us get a tournament back, it’s been a lot of years since we’ve had a Great Northern Conference tournament,” he said.

“We started the day off slow. At times, we played in system, but not consistent enough.

You can’t pick and choose when you want to play, and that’s on me as the coach to get them playing consistently.

“At times, we can be the best team in the gym and other times we’re not. I want to get these kids to realize their full potential, that’s what a coach is supposed to do and that’s my objective.

I don’t let them walk out of the gym with regrets at the end of the year.”

Marquette was led by Chloe Hale who recorded 73 assists and six aces through all four matches. Mikaila Graham had 62 digs and Aspen Michelin recorded 28 kills.

Marquette travels to Kingsford for a match on Thursday.

Ryan Spitza can be reached at sports@miningjournal.net.

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