However, that streak was in serious jeopardy deep into the second set after the Eskymos captured the opener and had several set points in a grueling second-set tiebreaker.

But the Flivvers found their resolve in that second set, started passing much better after struggling to stay in system previously in the match and rebounded to knock off Escanaba 18-25, 34-32, 25-19, 26-24.

The victory increases Kingsford’s unbeaten run in the GNC to 17 matches.

“Escanaba’s defense was fantastic,” KHS coach Jaclynn Kreider said. “(Esky libero) Harley Coolman made it very difficult for us to get a ball on the ground. They also served aggressive and put us out of system frequently.

Iron Mountain's Lucy Baumgartner soars above the net as Norway's Chloe Chartier (9) and Alyssa dela Cruz defend on Tuesday in the Mountaineer gym. (Terry Raiche photo)

“We have a lot to work to on this year with a young team, but we did not give up easily and saw a fight tonight that shows that we will grow this year and continue to get better, which is exciting.”

The Flivvers (7-2-1) featured a balanced attack offensively in the victory. Mylee Kreider paced the team in kills with nine, Mya Brunswick and Mckynzee Kreider finished with eight each, Cassie Olson and Lakyn Wallis put down six a piece and Staysha Jarski posted three.

and Karly Trevillian directed the attack, finishing with 18 and 10 assists, respectively. Trevillian added three aces and Kreider had two.

Defensively, Mylee Kreider topped Kingsford with 20 digs, while Brunswick finished with 12, Olivia Nash had nine, Onika Smeester recorded six and Trevillian logged five.

Olson and Jarski had one solo block each, while Jarski and Brunswick both recorded two assisted blocks.

Norway's Addyson Burklund (1) attempts to fire the ball over defender Bella Person (12) of Iron Mountain during Tuesday's match. (Terry Raiche photo)

The Flivvers hit the road for their next match at Calumet (4-2) on Thursday.

North Dickinson 3

Rapid River 0

At Rapid River, North Dickinson put in a strong all-around performance and produced balanced contributions across the board in their 25-17, 25-18, 25-15 Skyline Central Conference sweep of the Rockets.

Senior setter Raina Ledzian ran North Dickinson’s multi-faceted attack and finished 23 assists as the Nordics (2-1-2) had eight different hitters record kills. Cami Sleeter finished with a team-high 10, Ledzian had eight, Aubrey Applekamp wound up with seven, Dakota Massie and Ella Rossi posted three each, Aunika Lindholm finished with two and Alle Brown and Tatum Cherubini had one each.

Rossi fired four aces, while Massi, Cherubini and Nadia Carpenter recorded three each. Massi served at 100% efficiency in the match.

Dalaney Steinbrecher paced ND’s defense with 12 digs to go with nine from Cherubini and seven from Ledzian. Applekamp blocked one kill attempt as well.

The Nordics host Carney-Nadeau (3-2) on Thursday.

ND stats

Dakota Massie, 3 kills, 1 assist, 3 digs, 3 aces

Aunika Lindholm, 2 kills, 1 assist

Aubrey Applekamp, 7 kills, 1 assist, 2 digs, 1 block

Alle Brown, 1 kill, 1 dig, 1 ace

Nadia Carpenter, 4 digs, 3 aces

Ella Rossi, 3 kills, 2 assists, 4 digs, 4 aces

Tatum Cherubini, 1 kill, 1 assist, 9 digs, 3 aces

Raina Ledzian, 8 kills, 23 assists, 7 digs, 1 ace

Dalaney Steinbrecher, 1 assist, 12 digs, 2 aces

Cami Sleeter, 10 kills, 1 dig

Florence 3

Calumet 1

At Florence, the LadyCats started out strong and only lost momentum in the middle of the match against a perennial Upper Peninsula power. Florence prevailed 25-12, 25-23, 18-25, 25-16.

“The play was pretty good volleyball and rallies,” said Florence coach Teresa Chrisman.

Kelsi Chrisman notched a triple-double — 11 kills, 12 assists and 16 digs. “She has a real sense of the floor and what is going to happen next,” coach Chrisman said.

Sami Demuri led Florence with 20 digs and also notched 10 assists.

“The girls are starting to settle in to what is needed from them,” Chrisman said. “We really talked about finishing, maintaining positive mental fortitude the whole match and focusing on the improvement they are making; not the mistakes. I was pleased with everyone’s performance and look forward to improving even more every week.”

Florence stats:

Ashlyn VanDenHeuvel, 6 aces, 10 kills, 15 digs, 1 block

Miley VanDenHeuvel, 4 aces, 7 kills, 3 assists, 3 blocks, 12 digs

Kelsi Chrisman, 3 aces, 11 kills, 12 assists, 16 digs

Sami Demuri, 4 kills, 10 assists, 20 digs, 1 block

Ashley Peterson, 1 ace, 2 assists, 5 digs

Naomi Millan, 2 kills, 3 assists, 10 digs

Lyla Nolan, 2 digs

Emily Wolske, 1 assist, 1 block

Norway 3

Iron Mountain 1

Norway dropped the opening set 22-25, but went on to win 25-22, 25-16, 25-23.

Addison Burklund totaled 3 aces and 12 kills for the Knights, while Ailie Freiberg notched three aces and recorded 34 assists.

Kendall Burklund added 14 kills and eight digs. Norway’s Chloe Chartier had eight kills and Ashley Carlson posted eight digs.

Lena 3

Niagara 2

At Niagara, the hosts won the first two sets before dropping the final three. The scores were 25-20, 25-23, 23-25, 7-25, 14-16.

“There were times where we were really running a tough offense, but Lena played very scrappy and it was difficult to get the kill where we normally would,” said Badgers coach Maryellen Allred.

“Lena played a short game and caught our defense on our heels too many times,” Allred continued. “Moving forward, we need to be better at adjusting to a team’s tendencies and work on our hustle consistently throughout a game.”

Niagara was “dealing with some illness as well, but our team needs to learn to handle adversity as well,” Allred added.

Niagara stats:

Elesia Sweig, 1 ace, 1 kill, 25 assists, 9 digs

Lily Steinbrecher, 2 kills, 1 block, 16 assists, 6 digs

Sienna LaRock, 1 block, 3 digs

Lexi Champagne, 2 digs

Bristol Sanicki, 3 aces, 18 kills, 3 blocks, 1 assist, 7 digs

Peyton Allred, 1 ace, 17 kills, 2 blocks, 1 assist, 19 digs

Grace Payette, 5 aces, 1 kill, 2 assists, 13 digs

Lexi Johnston, 2 kills, 1 assist, 2 digs

Alivia Kleikamp, 10 kills, 2 blocks, 2 digs

Sydney Swanson, 1 ace, 2 kills, 13 digs

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News Editor Jim Anderson contributed