GLADSTONE — Mental toughness proved to be key for Kingsford in a volleyball district opening win over Gladstone Tuesday.

The Flivvers won the match 3-1 (23-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-16) after falling behind early and losing the first set.

“Losing that first set didn’t hurt us,” Flivvers head coach Jaclynn Kreider said. “We felt like we were gaining some momentum there at the end and it carried over to the rest of the match. We did a good job of fighting back.”

On Friday, Kingsford hosts the winner of Escanaba and Houghton’s match in the district final.

Kingsford was able to win the second set and had to hang on at the end of the third.

The Flivvers jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the third set behind the serving of Katherine Erickson and led 24-18 before the Braves reeled off five straight points to make it 24-23. The Flivvers called a timeout during that span and were able to hang on for a two-point win.

The fourth set was much of the same, as the Braves fell behind early and had to try to dig out of a hole they could never climb out of.

“There were some breaks that didn’t go our way tonight,” Braves head coach Bill Lawrence said. “The first set looked great, I thought the girls played great. We knew they (the Flivvers) were going to come out and play their A-game and they did. They did a great of keeping it away from Megan (Crow) and kept us out of our system.”

Lawrence went on to say he is super proud of all the seniors playing in their final game.

“We have seven seniors in this senior class,” he said. “I thought they all played well tonight. It was emotional for them knowing that this could be their last game.”

Kreider said she was extremely happy with the result.

“We had our sights set on this game all year,” she said. “When we saw this was our draw for districts, we focused in on this game all year and tried to be peaking at the right time. Throughout the match it just felt like this was our night. They (the Braves) were using more tips than they usually do and we felt like that was because of what we were doing.

“I also want to thank all of the parents and the fans who came over here to support us to make it kind of feel like a home game. I knew we needed the extra support to win this game and it helped tremendously.”

Brooke Kriegl led the Flivvers with 22 digs and five kills. Maggie Strehlow added 16 digs and 11 kills, while Olivia Allen had 18 digs, 10 kills and two aces. Erickson chipped in with 12 digs, three kills and three aces, while Ali Doolittle had 12 kills and three digs.