Gladstone Girls Start Fast, But Houghton Prevails

GLADSTONE---The Gladstone Braves got off to a quick start in their Class B district semifinal match on Wednesday, winning the first set from the Houghton Gremlins.

But the Gremlins won the next three sets to eliminate the Braves, 3-1.

"We knew going in we had to lessen the errors," Braves Coach Liz Gendron said. "Houghton fully took advantage of everyone of them."

Gladstone took the first set, 25-23, sending the home crowd into hysterics.

Many of the Gladstone students were dressed in all-white (a "white-out", they called it). And they stayed standing for the entire match, on the floor in front of the bleachers.

The second set was not pretty for the Braves, losing, 25-17.

"We started off with the correct game plan but faltered from it in the second set," Gendron said. "We started to get back into it in the third but just couldn’t pull it out."

And in the third set, the Braves had several service errors and a handful of hitting errors. The Gremlins led, 21-11, before the Braves made a big comeback.

Gladstone's Jess Beaudry pounds this one for a kill

Gladstone closed to within 22-21, with the Jess Beaudry going on a long service run.
"These girls played very hard," Gendron said. "They came back from some large deficits."

But the Gremlins managed to hold to win, 25-23, behind the hitting of Jada Riutta.

The fourth set was close throughout, with the Braves holding their final lead at 12-11.

Houghton got the winning point after a long rally that ended with Lexi Hongisto hitting a cross-court shot long and wide

Suddenly, the Braves' season was over.

It was emotional end for Gladstone's five seniors, who had keyed an upset win over Kingsford two nights before.

Beaudry, Jensen, Bre Aird, Mackenzie Pardonnet, and libero Summer Demeuse will pass the torch to a set of juniors, led by Hongisto.

"Mackenzie Pardonnet had an outstanding district tournament run," Gendron said. "Her and Callie Jensen really started clicking. I should have called her number a few more times. Jessica and Lexi hit solid tonight."

Lexi Hongisto the kill off the Callie Jensen set.

"Both girls were hitting hard and serving strong," Gendron continued. "I cant say enough about Callie and Summer. We always talk about how the plays need to start with a good pass and great set.

"Summer had some awesome digs and Callie ran a smooth offense."

Statistically, Hongisto had 16 kills and Beaudry had 15 kills to lead the Braves. Hongisto also had four service aces, while Beaudry added three aces. Jensen had 17 digs and 37 set assists. Demeuse added 14 digs on defense from the libero position.

Houghton will face Menominee in the district championship match Friday night. Menominee beat Escanaba, 3-0, in Wednesday's other semifinal.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see more photos and videos from Wednesday's match.