Jeffers’ Brenna Hill, left, sets the ball for teammates Mara Pietila, center, and Marissa Nordstrom against Hancock on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2019, in Painesdale, Mich. (Eddie O’Neill/The Daily Mining Gazette)

PAINESDALE — The Jeffers Jets came to play Thursday night in front of their hometown fans. They swept the Hancock Bulldogs 3-0 in what head coach Rachel Torp described as their most complete game of the season.

“Our defense led the way as we played as a team,” said Jeffers head coach Rachel Torp. “I am super proud of our girls as they played all aspects of the game very well.”

Jeffers (3-1) won by scores of 27-25, 25-20 and 25-20.

Hancock (2-2) took their only lead of the game in the first set as senior Alexandra Houtari put them up 9-5 at the service line. Jeffers came back to tie it at 14 as they dominated numerous long volleys.

“It was hard for us to put the ball away,” said Hancock’s head coach Ellie Heinonen.” The long volleys they won by waiting for us to make a mistake or finding the open court. Credit to them for a really good defense.”

Senior MaKenna Harris led the defense for Jeffers with 23 digs. She was followed by Lilly Turner who had 19.

The Bulldogs battled back to make it 21-21 and then 24-24 before the Jets were able to finish it at 27-25.

In set two, the Jets took the lead and never looked back. At one point they lead by seven (13-6). Senior Marissa Nordstrom had a number of aces in this set. She led the Jets with eight on the night. Senior Lilly Turner helped the offense as well with 10 kills.

Torp noted that she tried out moving senior Mara Pietala from the middle to the outside and that made a difference.

“She gave us another arm and that gave us a lot of good shots,” Torp said. “We were able to find their open holes.”

The third set looked much the same as the Jets jumped out to an 11-6 lead under the strong service of Pietala. While the Bulldogs had chances to gain momentum, their possession of the ball often ended with a bad ball or a serve into the net. The Bulldogs got within two at 20-22 but didn’t catch up.

For the Bulldogs, junior Laura Fenton led the defense with 21 digs. On the offense, senior D’Andra Kero had five kills.

Heinonen said that she and girls are still working on find a good rotation — who fits best and where.

She added that even with the loss, she is proud of her team for staying aggressive until the end. While the Jets seemingly stayed one step ahead on them, the Bulldogs didn’t give up chasing them.

“Everybody stayed really aggressive,” she said. “We did not get tentative when they were digging us. We didn’t let up and go to a pushing or tipping game. Instead we stayed swinging. Everyday these girls are making major improvements.”

ALSO: Houghton swept Westwood 3-0 on Thursday. The Gremlins (4-4-1) won by scores of 25-9, 25-16 and 25-10. Rachael Hall had four kills and six blocks. Daityn Markham had four kills and four aces. Micaela Geborkoff had 13 assists and three aces. Paige Deforge had six aces and nine perfect passes.