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Volleyball: Marquette beats Flivvers, 3-2

Kingsford's Jordyn Kriegl (10) and Tori Kowalkowski (18) go up for a block against Marquette on Thursday in Kingsford. (Adam Niemi/Iron Mountain Daily News)

KINGSFORD — Marquette escaped with an emotional 3-2 win against Kingsford on Thursday.

Both teams traded wins through the night with Kingsford taking the first and third sets.

The Redettes took the win with pure grit, winning by scores of 24-26, 25-22, 22-25, 25-22, 15-10.

Even though the Flivvers took the loss, head coach Kelly Bruns liked her team’s energy.

“That was fantastic. That was the best my girls have played all year,” Bruns said. “They played defense and offense — I was just really proud of them. They never got down. They played steady. They were able to control it and come back.”

Kingsford established its high energy in the first set with a come-from-behind 26-24 win. The Flivvers were down 16-11 before tying the game at 23-all. Marquette took a 24-23 lead on a missed Kingsford serve. The Flivvers responded with three straight points to close out the set win in dramatic fashion.

Marquette erased an 8-4 deficit to take the lead in the second set. Kingsford retook the lead at 20-19 before Marquette went up 22-21 and went on to win the set 25-22.

The Flivvers took control in the third set, going up 6-0 right away and holding a 13-2 lead at one point. But Marquette responded with a steady comeback, bringing the deficit to 17-15 and then 20-18. Kingsford held on for a 25-22 win.

Both teams went for long rallies throughout the night with multiple blocks and digs just to earn a point. Bruns explained why she thought Kingsford played its best all year.

“Tonight they did a really good job anticipating the play,” she said. “Their court movement was really great. They did that very well tonight.”

Both teams battled point for point in the fourth set, tying all the way up to 18-all before Marquette got some breathing room on a 23-20 lead and pulling out the 25-22 win.

In the fifth set, Kingsford lost Sam Maycunich to an ankle injury. Losing her sapped the energy from the Flivvers’ floor. Marquette had taken control early and won the fifth set 15-10.

“It brought everything off-kilter a little bit,” Bruns said. “They tried but it just didn’t come out on our side.”

Marquette coach Mike Morgan said playing Kingsford is always an emotionally exhausting night.

“It’s always a tough match when we play Kingsford. They always play us really tough. First off, I really hate to see somebody go down like that one girl went down,” Morgan said. “I don’t like to see somebody get hurt and we wish her our best. At times I thought we had them on the ropes and at times I thought they had us on the ropes. Both sides were swinging aggressively. It was just a great high school volleyball match. I’m happy with the amount of effort that my kids put in.”

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