Kingsford sophomore libero Alivia Nash hits the deck to make a dig during a rally Thursday against Negaunee at Kingsford High School. (Ron Deuter photo)

INGSFORD — Sometimes it seems like the Kingsford volleyball team doesn’t know how to lose.

Left for dead after losing top hitter Mylee Kreider to injury early in the match, and down two sets to No. 4 Negaunee, the top-rated Flivvers somehow turned the tables and stormed back for an improbable 8-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-13, 15-13 victory before a raucous crowd at Kingsford High School.

With a reworked lineup that included two freshmen and two sophomores for large chunks of time, the Flivvers climbed out the mire and sprung back to record their most inspiring win of the season.

“We came together at the start of the year, and we hadn’t played with each other a lot, but I feel like we’ve grown as a team and tonight really showed that we’re just like one big family,” senior middle Cassie Olson said.

“Honestly, I wasn’t really expecting us to come back,” junior outside hitter Mya Brunswick added. “But we came together as a team and pulled through, which I’m really happy about.”

The match started brutally for Kingsford as Negaunee ran out to an 8-1 lead. Then bad went to worse when Kreider suffered a left ankle injury and never returned.

After losing the opening set badly, the Flivvers seemed to be on the ropes for their first dual match loss of the season.

“Everybody just seemed flustered,” Coach Jaclynn Kreider said. “(The first set) just got out of control really early. And then it was like, this could be a really short night.”

The irony of Mylee Kreider’s injury Thursday is that it came one day after she suffered an injury to her right ankle during Wednesday’s practice. That occurrence afforded the Flivvers an opportunity to work on playing without her and that showed in how quickly Kingsford adapted to Kreider’s absence in Thursday’s match.

With her daughter out, Coach Kreider moved Brunswick into Mylee’s spot, inserted junior Alyvia Kowalski into Brunswick’s empty slot, kept sophomore Lakyn Wallis on the court for six rotations and installed sophomore Alivia Nash as a full libero.

Throw in a hefty dose of Olson and freshman Staysha Jarski in the middle, freshman Mckynzee Kreider and senior Karly Trevillian as setters and effective play off the bench from senior Adelyn Normand and junior Onika Smeester and the Flivvers figured out a way to reverse the momentum against a formidable Negaunee team (13-4-2).

After getting blown out in the first set and falling behind 19-12 in the second, the Flivvers started to figure things out. Jarski came up with a big block to start a 10-3 run that pulled Kingsford into a 22-all tie.

During the run, Brunswick and Normand fired an ace each, while Olson, Wallis and Mckynzee Kreider each put down a kill.

Though the Miners scored the next three points to take the second set, a sea change was in the air.

“It started in second set and in the third set we really turned it on and said, ‘It’s ‘Go Time,'” Olson said.

Kingsford grabbed just its first two-point lead of the match early in the third on a roll by Brunswick. The jack-of-all-trades junior then followed with a tip and another kill and Wallis hammered a spike to lift the Flivvers to an 11-5 advantage.

Normand served an ace and ran off six straight service points to help Kingsford push its lead to nine.

“I’m really proud of Adelyn,” coach Kreider said. “She serves a lot in practice at our serve receive because she has a very strong aggressive serve. And as she showed tonight, she can step into the game and get on a run. It’s hard to be patient for your moment so tonight I’m glad she had that.”

The Miners pulled to within 24-22 late in the set to creep within four points of winning the match, but Olson came up with a huge kill to keep her team alive.

In the fourth set, Olson’s middle partner took over. Jarski, a 5-10 rookie with great jumping ability, massive potential and the infectious personality of a puppy, stepped forward.

Jarski belted a kill off a quick set from Mckynzee Kreider to help send the Flivvers on a 17-5 surge that left them up 20-11. Jarski then shut the door with two straight kills and a block before Brunswick sent the match to a fifth set with two kills.

“I think offensively we were really strong tonight, especially our middles,” Brunswick said. “They were connecting really well. And that really helped our outsides.”

Brunswick paced the Flivvers in kills with 14, while Olson contributed eight and Jarski produced seven.

“She’s got a personality that everybody loves her,” Coach Kreider said of Jarski. “She is the one kid who when she’s going well, everybody is excited. So, it brings positive energy to the group that just makes a huge difference.”

Olson can testify to that.

“I love Staysha, ever since I met her this summer. She always has a smile on her face, she’s always working hard and she’s like my little Mini-Me.”

The Flivvers rode their momentum to a quick 5-1 advantage in the deciding set, led by two kills from Mckynzee Kreider and one from Brunswick.

Negaunee responded, however, by going on a 9-4 stretch that narrowed Kingsford’s lead to 10-9.

But again, Olson put down a quick-set kill after a pair of remarkable digs by Nash.

Nash led the Flivvers with 28 digs and Wallis added 25 as the Kingsford defense, which has struggled at points this season, came to the fore.

“Really proud of those two,” Coach Kreider said of Nash and Wallis. “Those two sophomores in that big game tonight, they did just a fantastic job.”

The match tightened late in the set with Kingsford clinging to a 13-12 lead. Jarski smacked a kill to push the Flivvers within one point of ending it, but Negaunee junior Isla Engstrom answered to make the score 14-13.

Nevertheless, Jarski stopped any more apprehension from the Flivver side with her final kill of the night, ending one of the more remarkable matches of the season so far.

“You don’t want there to be an injury to see that other kids can step up and be better, but now we’ve seen it,” Jaclynn Kreider said. “Now those kids have confidence. So, we can look at different lineups now when Mylee comes back and hopefully, we can use that to be that much better in the last third of the (regular season) and in the postseason because this postseason isn’t going to be easy.”

Kingsford returns to action Tuesday with a match at Iron Mountain before traveling to face second-ranked Houghton on Thursday.