IRON RIVER – Playing against a perennial power like Calumet was going to be challenge enough for the West Iron County volleyball team Thursday night in Iron River.

But the Wykons added to the difficulty with inaccurate passing and some untimely setting and service errors as the Copper Kings bested the hosts 25-16, 25-20, 25-19 at Charles Greenlund Gymnasium.

The opening set was an indicator of how most of the match went. Of the 25 points that the Copper Kings scored, 14 came on West Iron miscues.

In the second set, the Wykons (2-4) played much cleaner and showed more of what they’re capable of. Senior Lily DeSousa recorded two kills, while junior Cami Alexa and senior Lacey Shamion added one each helped West Iron grab a 5-2 lead.

Calumet (4-1-0) pulled even on a block and a kill by senior middle Amiina Tarnowski and from there the teams went back-and-forth. DeSousa smacked one of her team-high nine kills and sophomore middle Eriana Sucholl recorded one of her team-best four blocks to keep West Iron even.

Calumet junior hitter Chloe Coppo put her team in front in the middle of the set with consecutive kills, but the Wykons took advantage of two Calumet miscues to pull even at 15-all.

From there, the Copper Kings had the better of the play. Junior Bailey Strom fired on ace to go with a block by Coppo and a block and a kill by Tarnowski.

Senior Grace Keranen spiked a kill to put her team up 24-20 and then the Wykons failed to communicate on a pass as Calumet went up two sets.

While the Wykons played well in the second set, they reverted to their earlier struggles in the third. The Copper Kings broke a 4-4 tie with a 14-3 run that put West Iron in an 18-7 hole.

The Wykons committed five straight errors to fall off the pace before Coppo and junior Alice Lahti recorded twp kills and junior Braylinn Antilla produced an ace to help Calumet take a double-digit lead.

Some Calumet errors and two kills from Shamion helped West Iron pull to within 23-19, but a Wykon service error and an ace by Coppo closed out the match.

The Wykons, who are still playing without injured starting hitter Bristol Shamion, travel to Gwinn on Tuesday, Sept. 9 for their next match.

Forest Park 3,

North Central 0

At Powers, Forest Park dominated in a 25-6, 25-8, 25-7 win.

“The girls played strong and carried their momentum and intensity throughout all three sets,” said coach Bobbie Anderson. “Sophomore Evie Anderson led the team with nine kills, while Elsie Williams added five. The girls were a force at the net, and we’re fortunate to have consistent, powerful hitters across the board.”

Forest Park stats:

Ava Fischer, 4 kills, 6 digs, 8 aces

Harper Anderson, 1 kill, 3 digs, 2 aces

Evie Anderson, 9 kills, 5 digs, 3 aces

Lily Curnow, 2 digs

Tessa Bartoszek, 1 kill, 1 block, 1 dig, 1 ace

Elsie Williams, 5 kills, 6 assists, 1 block, 1 ace

Josie Anderson, 2 kills

Haven VanSickle, 1 kill

Vienna Price, 17 assists, 5 aces

Crivitz 3,

Niagara 0

Niagara suffered its first M&O Conference volleyball loss Thursday, playing at Crivitz.

The Wolverines prevailed 25-20, 25-10, 25-23.

“Our ability to set up our offense in serve receive was a major factor to our loss,” said Niagara coach Maryellen Allred. “We gave a lot of free balls that allowed to Crivitz to run many options on their offense. The first set we were playing very well and faltered at 20 points in serve receive.”

After a sluggish second set, the third set was hard-fought.

“We just did not get enough offensive attacks to seal the deal,” Allred said. “Going forward, we are going to work on mental toughness in clutch situations and improving our passing so we can effectively set up our offense. There were many good things that we have to focus on such as our blocking and hustle.”

Niagara stats:

Elesia Sweig, 1 ace, 1 kill, 7 assists, 6 digs

Lily Steinbrecher 1 ace, 1 kill, 5 assists, 3 digs

Sienna LaRock, 1assist

Lexi Champagne, 1 dig

Bristol Sanicki, 1 kill, 6 digs

Peyton Allred, 1 ace, 8 kills, 11 digs

Alyssa Hedmark, 3 kills, 1 assist, 1 dig

Grace Payette, 4 aces, 4 assists, 12 digs

Alivia Kleikamp, 4 kills, 2 digs

Sydney Swanson, 1 ace, 3 kills, 1 assist, 8 digs

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News Editor Jim Anderson contributed.