“The first two sets were pretty intense tonight, and I have a lot of respect for the Goodman-Pembine team,” Florence head coach Joan Canfield said. “They’ve come a long ways over the last couple of years. The hitting of Kaitlyn Nelson was impressive throughout the night, and we had a difficult time getting a touch on her hits.”

The difference in the match was Florence’s aggressive serving and tough defense, as was noted by Canfield, and G-P coach Bob Grandaw. The strong serving carried the Bobcats to extended point runs in each set.

In set No. 1, down 1-0 with Jenna Springer serving, Florence went on an eight-point run. Set No. 2, which was the most highly-contested match of the night, saw the Patriots fight back from Florence’s seven-point run in the middle of the frame.

Florence closed out the third set with a four-point run behind the serving of Jordyn Springer. The final set was dominated by Florence. Jenna Springer and Sidney Tomzack led the way in the serving department, with six and eight point runs, respectively. Tomzack was 100 percent serving on the night, while Jenna Springer added 16 assists.

Matt McCarthy/The Daily News Goodman-Pembine’s Katelyn Nelson serves in the third set.

“We didn’t play our usual game tonight, not sticking to our game plan,” said Grandaw. “Our reaction to the ball was slow tonight. We’ve been working on that all season. Our serving struggled tonight, as it has for most of the season. We work on it in practice as hard as we can. I give them (Florence) credit. They played well tonight.”

Katelyn Nelson had nine kills, four aces and three blocks for the Patriots. Sierra Dettman added four kills and three aces. Kalli Erickson registered two blocks, and Sophie Wysocki tallied seven assists and three blocks.

Florence travels to Stephenson on Thursday for a non-conference match. On Saturday, the Bobcats head to Crandon for a tournament. G-P travels to Gresham Saturday.

In Marquette on Saturday, Florence participated in the Marquette Redettes volleyball tournament. In pool play, Florence defeated Superior Central 25-8, 25-15, Ishpeming 25-13, 25-19 and Westwood 25-10, 25-18.

Falling to Marquette 20-25, 15-25 and finishing 6-2 put the Bobcats into bracket play, where they fell short against Gwinn 22-25,19-25, finishing third place overall, tied with Menominee.

Jenna Springer made the Tournament Team along with five other players from other tournament participants.

“I’m very proud of Jenna, she’s our full-time setter and the glue for our team,” said Canfield.

Leah Young, Sidney Tomczak and Jenna Springer all served 100 percent in the tournament. Jordyn Springer totaled 16 kills, while Madison Neuens and Lacey Enders each added 10. Jenna Springer amasses 31 assists.