Pickford Wins 'Purple Pebble' Volleyball Tourney

GLADSTONE---The bad news came at 2:10 Friday afternoon.

The motors had died in the mechanism that lifts the basketball hoops to the ceiling inside the Gladstone High School Gym. New motors would not arrive until Monday, and the hoops would the stuck in the "down" position for the entire weekend.

Bad timing for the Gladstone Braves volleyball program, which was set to host the longest-running high school tournament in the Upper Peninsula: The Rock.

Ten teams from across the Upper Peninsula were scheduled to compete. But with the hoops blocking one of the courts, there was only one court available to play volleyball.

Gladstone Athletic Director Matt Houle had to pick up the phone.

Houle called Houghton, Hancock, Pickford, Norway, Kingsford, Gwinn and Westwood and told them that the tournament would have to be cancelled.

"You can't run a ten-team tournament with only one court," Houle said.

Well, the Pickford team was already on its way from the Eastern U.P., so the decision was made to have a smaller tournament on Saturday, using the one court.

With all of the food already ordered, rosters printed, officials assigned, volunteers ready to go, Houle and Coach Liz Gendron tried to salvage the day.

"We're calling it the 'Purple Pebble' tournament," Houle said of the event that would feature three local teams: Escanaba, Gladstone, Rapid River, along with Pickford.

And it turned out to be a pretty fun day of volleyball, especially for the Pickford Panthers.

The Panthers swept all four of its matches to win the tournament.

Pickford beat Escanaba in the championship match, 2-0, by scores of 25-22 and 25-20. Escanaba finished with a 3-2 record, Gladstone went 1-3, and Rapid River was 0-4.

All of the scores are posted below. Also, click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS section above to see photos and videos.

Gladstone Volleyball Invitational
Round-Robin Pool-Play

Pickford 2, Escanaba 0 (25-18, 25-13)
Gladstone 2, Rapid River 0 (25-21, 25-19)
Pickford 2, Rapid River 0 (25-11, 25-14)
Escanaba 2, Gladstone 0 (25-17, 25-20)
Pickford 2, Gladstone 0 (25-15, 25-17)
Escanaba 2, Rapid River 0 (25-15, 25-12)

Semifinal Round
Pickford 2, Rapid River 0 (25-14, 25-14)
Escanaba 2, Gladstone 0 (26-24, 25-15)

Championship Match
Pickford 2, Escanaba 0 (25-22, 25-20)