IRON RIVER — On Tuesday night, the West Iron County Wykons held a two sets to one advantage over Gwinn and a solid lead heading down the stretch of the fourth volleyball set.

But the Wykons couldn’t close the deal and ended up losing to the Modeltowners in five.

On Wednesday evening, the Wykons found themselves in pretty much the same position against visiting Stephenson. West Iron captured two of the first three sets and held a 20-17 advantage in the fourth.

This time, West Iron buckled but did not break in that fourth set and posted a 28-30, 25-18, 25-17, 25-23 victory at Charles Greenlund Gymnasium.

“After last night, I really wasn’t sure we were going to be able to pull ourselves out of the position we were in,” WIC coach Konnor Bjorkman said. “But we didn’t need to be in that position, and I felt that way last night, like we played some really good volleyball and then one mistake and we let that get in our heads.

“But for morale (purposes), the win was really important. We needed the win.”

The Wykons (3-5) got off to a good start against the Eagles (0-6), building a 17-12 lead. Lacey Shamion notched two kills and an ace, while Cami Alexa and Lilly DeSousa added one kill each as West Iron took advantage of several Stephenson miscues to take the lead at mid-set.

But the Wykons faltered soon after as the Eagles came back to tie at 21-all and Stephenson eventually won the opener on two consecutive West Iron miscues.

Bjorkman said that her players still question themselves at times.

“We tend to start playing in emergency (mode) and it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, what am I going to do?’ I know that we can execute, we sometimes just lack confidence.”

Despite the first-set defeat, the Wykons regained their footing and grabbed control of the second set with a 7-0 run to take a 14-8 lead. Alexa and DeSousa spiked two kills and Eriana Sucholl blocked an overpass during the surge.

Later, junior libero Grace House smacked two aces and Lacey Shamion added a kill and an ace to help WIC even the match at 1-set all.

Shamion wound up leading her team in kills with 12 in an energetic performance that saw her contribute from all areas of the court.

“She’s aggressive and she’s all over the floor,” Bjorkman said of the senior. “She has stepped up in the passing aspect. She really did not pass at all last year, but I needed her this year, and she’s stepped up and she really is a key player back there.”

The Eagles fought back in the third set and established a 12-7 lead sparked by two aces from senior Olivia Cappaert and a roll shot by freshman Aunna Havelka.

However, the Wykons responded with a 19-5 run to take the third set going away. Shamion posted four kills to go with a kill and a tip from Addi Bortolameolli, an ace and a backrow kill by DeSousa and a tip kill by Alexa.

The play of her hitters during that run is what Bjorkman wants to see going forward.

“(We have been) making too many errors, too many out of bounds, too many in the net,” she said. “So, we’re working on it, but I think that’s really our key right now. If we can get more consistent, we can really be good.”

Aside from Shamion’s output, Alexa finished with seven kills, Bortolameolli had five and DeSousa and Sucholl recorded four each.

Part of the issue has been that West Iron is still adjusting to the loss of sophomore outside hitter Bristol Shamion, a 2024 all-U.P. first teamer who injured her ankle earlier in the season and has not fully recovered.

Bjorkman said Shamion’s injury moved Alexa from the middle hitter position that she was going to play to the outside spot that Shamion filled.

“We are dealing with it,” the head coach said. “Everybody is not in their ideal spot right now because Bristol’s a six-rotation player. I do think it will be helpful if we can get her back in and everybody can go back to where we planned them to play.”

The teams played evenly for most of the fourth set with neither side holding a lead bigger than two until the Wykons grabbed a 16-13 edge. Bortolameolli fired three straight aces for WIC during that stretch.

Nevertheless, West Iron soon lost its way, committing several hitting errors to help the Eagles take a 23-20 lead. But instead of fading away in the set and facing another fifth-set decider, the Wykons scored the final five points of the match to win in four.

West Iron is off until Thursday when they travel to Westwood to face the Patriots (1-3-1).