ESCANABA---The Escanaba Eskymos played hard after falling behind by two sets in Monday night's MHSAA volleyball district tournament opener, winning the third set and nearly winning the fourth, before losing to the Houghton Gremlins, 3-1, in Escanaba.
The scores were 25-18, 25-18, 23-25, 25-23.
“If we would have started that way in September, it would have been a whole different season for us,” Escanaba Coach Adam Lambert said. “That was a great match from Houghton and from Escanaba. I mean, they were diving, they were scrambling, they were hitting, they were pushing. They were doing everything they needed to, but we just fell short again.”
“I thought our coverage at the net was excellent tonight,” Houghton Coach Blair Zenner said. “The best we've seen in a long time, making sure we had people there, ready to go, when there were blocks to be made, after our swings. So, that was great to see.”
The Gremlins easily won the first two sets, 25-18 and 25-18, but the Eskymos came out strong in the third set, and built a 17-9 lead and a 23-17 lead. Houghton came close to ending the match with a six-point comeback, but the Eskymos pulled through to keep it going, with a lot of play at the net.
“Our sophomore middles really held it together,” Lambert said. “In the pregame meeting, I told them that I don't need you to strike the ball, I need you to block the ball. And that's what they did. Block, after block, after block. Not necessarily for points, but they stopped the ball coming over for their kids, which was fantastic.”
In the fourth set, the Eskymos broke away from a tight match and looked poised to force a fifth set, taking a 23-19 lead. Zenner called a time out, and from there, her Gremlins scored six straight points to avoid a winner-take-all fifth set, and win, 25-23.
“We dig ourselves into holes sometimes, and we have to find ways to dig ourselves out,” Zenner said. “Often times we do, like we did tonight, but then it's just not enough to close out the match. I think Escanaba picked up their serve-receive, and they were passing really well in the third and fourth sets. But we found a way. I'm so proud of them.
"They have a lot of grit, and you just have to find a way to make it work sometimes when that's all you can do. It's very rewarding to see them dig deep and still find a way to come out on top.”
Houghton will face second-ranked Kingsford in the district semifinals on Wednesday. For Escanaba, the season ends, but with some promising outlooks with ten girls returning next season.
MONDAY'S OTHER U.P. DISTRICT SCORES
Hancock 3, Westwood 0 (25-14, 25-8, 25-10)
Bark River-Harris 3, Gwinn 0 (25-15, 25-10, 25-13)
Manistique 3, Gladstone 0 (25-9, 25-13, 25-14)
Forest Park 3, Ironwood 1 (25-13, 25-27, 25-20, 25-11)
Ewen-Trout Creek 3, Watersmeet 0 (25-11, 25-13, 25-4)
Baraga 3, Dollar Bay 1 (25-8, 23-25, 25-13, 25-16)
L'Anse 3, Ontonagon 0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-22)
Ishpeming 3, Mid Peninsula 0 (25-16, 25-15, 25-12)
Munising 3, Rapid River 0 (25-15, 25-6, 25-11)
North Dickinson 3, Hannahville 0 (25-13, 25-12, 25-16)
North Central 3, Norway 0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-22)
Newberry 3, Maplewood Baptist 0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-16)
Rudyard 3, Pickford 0 (25-18, 25-11, 25-23)
Habor Light Christian 3, Cedarville 1 (25-17, 23-25, 25-13, 25-11)
St. Ignace 3, Mackinac Island 0 (25-11, 25-14, 25-16)
