ESCANABA — Momentum often plays a major role in volleyball.

The Escanaba Eskymos appear to have plenty of that as they continued their winning ways in a 3-0 conquest (25-11, 25-20, 25-15) of Iron Mountain at Escanaba on Monday night.

Esky’s latest victory took place just two days after earning the title in Saturday’s Redette Rumble in Marquette.

“We had a lot of momentum after beating Marquette (in straight sets) Thursday,” said Esky coach Adam Lambert. “That was a very nice win in Marquette. We didn’t lose a single set. Iron Mountain has a good team. Last year they beat us in five sets. They have some good servers.”

A defensive error by the Mountaineers enabled the Esky’s to secure Monday’s decision.

The Mountaineers were within 15-11 following a kill by senior Ellison Powell in the third set.

A kill by Mara Liss gave the Eskymos a sideout and five-point cushion. Senior Mari Bink then recorded three service points, including two aces, giving Esky a 19-11 advantage.

Senior Emma Ellis provided Iron Mountain with a kill, trimming its deficit to 21-15. A hitting error, however, foiled the Mountaineers before the Eskymos finished the finale.

‘Their middle hitters were getting that quick set,” said Mountaineers’ coach Jeanne Newberry. “Both teams were making unforced errors. We need to be a little quicker on our feet. Our transition wasn’t quick enough tonight.”

Iron Mountain trailed 19-11 after committing a defensive error in the second set.

The Mountaineers were within 24-20 following a kill by senior Chloe Maycroft before that set ended on a service error.

Senior Katelyn Stahlboeger provided the Eskymos with a five-point service run for an 8-3 lead in the opener.

The Eskymos continued to pull away, extending their advantage to 24-9 on a defensive error by Iron Mountain before a kill by Carney Salo secured the opener.

“We had some service runs we enjoyed,” said Lambert. “We won the coin toss and elected to receive. We wanted to have the first set, and it worked.”

Stahlboeger collected 14 kills and three service aces. Sophomore Grayson LaMarche added 13 kills and two aces. Salo tallied 19 assists, and Bink had 11 assists and four aces.

“We were back on our heels in the first set,” said Newberry. “During the first time-out, we told the girls ‘you’re not moving.’ The girls told us the officials had a quick whistle, and we failed to get into a tempo to match. We were able to rotate our outside hitters.

“With this being a non-conference match we had that option. Only, we didn’t serve well tonight.”