Forest Park's Mercedes Simmons (11) battles Norway's Katie Leiker at the net on Thursday in Crystal Falls. (Burt Angeli/The Daily News)

CRYSTAL FALLS — Mercedes Simmons and the Forest Park Lady Trojans pinned Norway with its first Skyline Central Conference volleyball loss of the season Thursday.

Simmons’ 16 kills and 9 solo blocks led Forest Park past Norway 3-2 (16-25, 26-24, 19-25, 25-23, 15-11).

The Lady Trojans improved to 8-13-3 overall and 4-3 conference while the Knights slipped to 6-1 in the league.

“Mercedes is our force at the net,” Trojans head coach Ana Cornelia said of the junior middle hitter. “We try to get her as many hits on the ball as possible.”

Simmons figured in four of Forest Park’s final five points in the deciding fifth set.

“She’s (Simmons) a great player but I don’t think she out-killed us when you look at total stats,” said Norway head coach Steve Andrews. “We got timid in different positions. We’re playing not to lose instead of playing to win.”

In the second set, Forest Park rallied from a 24-23 deficit after Haley Clifford put Norway ahead. A two-hand push shot from Sydney Honkala, followed by two Simmons’ kills gave the set to Forest Park.

Three straight Clifford aces and a pair of Allie Sheski kills powered Norway in the third set.

“Norway has a strong team and caused use some unforced errors,” Cornelia said. “We were able to remain confident and gain consistency to keep them on their heels to come out on top (in the match).”

Kills from Jaclyn Bal helped Norway knot the fourth set at 23. But a miscue and another Simmons’ kill, this one a tip, evened the match at two sets.

“It works for her,” Cornelia said of Simmons’ tip that comes off an overhand swing. “She’s good at switching up her hits.”

Simmons and Sydney Honkala teamed up on a double block to snap a 9-9 tie in the fifth set. Destiny Ferrara followed with an ace and Simmons added three points — two by block kills — and Kelsey Ragio had a kill.

In addition to Simmons, FP had 15 kills in the five sets from Honkala, Laina Toivonen and Ragio.

“That’s the first time I’ve seen them play consistent and aggressive at the net,” Cornelia said. “They played together as a team.”

Andrews said his Knights seem to be “scared of making mistakes, and this game is all about mistakes, You have to learn to make them and move on.

“We’ll be OK. It’s a tough one to lose but someone has to lose. We have some tough games ahead and the girls have to step it up.”

Norway visits Escanaba on Monday and Forest Park continues conference play Tuesday at Mid Peninsula.

“I’m very proud of how this team played tonight,” Cornelia said. “Everyone was a contributor and they all showed resilience. Our team keeps gelling the further we go into this season.”

Forest Park summary:

Caitlyn Bloomberg — 3 aces, 1 dig

Cassie Divine — 2 kills, 2 blocks, 1 block assist

Destiny Ferrara — 3 aces, 2 kills, 4 digs

Elle Soderberg — 1 ace, 1 kill, 1 assist, 4 digs, 1 block assist

Grace Reinke — 1 dig

Kelsey Ragio — 4 kills, 4 digs, 1 block assist

Laina Toivonen – 1 ace, 5 kills, 7 digs

Mercedes Simmons — 1 ace, 16 kills, 9 blocks, 1 block assist

Sydney Honkala — 6 kills, 14 assists, 11 digs