MARATHON MATCH: Kingsford Outlasts Escanaba

Click the thumbanils to see photos and videos from the match, and click the AUDIO buttons to hear comments from both coaches.

ESCANABA---The Kingsford High School volleyball team pulled out a marathon 3-2 win over the Escanaba Eskymos Tuesday night in Escanaba.

The scores were 22-25, 25-10, 25-18, 21-25, 19-17.

"Oh my gosh, that was so muych fun," Kingsford Coach Jaclynn Kreider said. "I can't believe that went to five (sets). I thought we had some good momentum after sets two and three, and so I thought the fourth would have been ours. But we struggled a little bit. We had some errors and gave them some hope. When you give a team hope like that, and all of a sudden, the momentum swings in the other direction."

"It was a good match," Escanaba Coach Adam Lambert said. "They're in our conference, which makes it more intense. We just know they're going to to be good players. In practice, we work on what they're going to do against us. They hit the ball hard. They didn't let up. We haven't been hit-at that much in a long time. Most of them (opponents)start freeballing the ball over and they start going light. But these (Kingsford) girls hit every chance they got, and we need to see that. Kingsford is a great program."

Kingsford led for most of the first set before the Eskymos roared back to take the lead late, and win, 25-22. But the Flivvers dominated the next two sets, before the Eskymos rode the wave of the loud student section cheers to win force a fifth and deciding set.

Escanaba jumped to 5-1, 6-2, and 8-4 leads in that final set. But they were victims of two "lift" calls that gave Kingsford points, as well as a key "in or out" call that went against them on a ball near the back-line. Still, the Eskymos staved off four Kingsford match points at 14-13, 15-14 16-15, and 17-16. Katleyn Stalboerger's powerful cross-court spike tied the match at 17.

"When she gets intesne, she just starts pounding and pounding, and it's so fun to watch her grow the last couple of years," Lambert said. "And I still have her another year. She's just developing into a great, great middle."

The Flivvers did not fold even after missing on four straight match points. The fifth time was the charm, unfortunately for Escanaba, on a serve-receive/hitting error.

"It's always a challenge when we come here and play Escanaba because typically, both teams just want it so much," Kreider said. "It's become a big rivalry. We put a lot of pressure on our girls in practice. Just to try to mimmick that pressure that in those (game) situations, they're going to feel."

"Our girls learn how to keep their composure."

TUESDAY'S OTHER U.P. VOLLEYBALL SCORES
Cheboygan 3, Manistique 0 (25-11, 27-25, 25-9)
Marquette 3, Gladstone 0
Munising 3, Rapid River 0
Carney-Nadeau 3, Norway 0
Gwinn 3, Iron Mountain 2
Cedarville 3, Mackinaw City 0

Triangular Meet
Rudyard 2, Newberry 1
Rudyard 2, St. Ignace 0
St. Ignace 2, Newberry 1