Hancock's front line of (left to right) Jana Pietila, Vaeda Brooks and Azura Aho wait for a serve on Tuesday in a Division 4 Region 25 semifinal game against Crystal Falls Forest Park in L'Anse. (Eddie O’Neill/For the Gazette)

L’ANSE — The Hancock Bulldogs volleyball season came to an end on Tuesday with a 3-0 loss to the Crystal Falls Forest Park Lady Trojans in Division 4 Region 25 semifinal play. Scores were 26-24 25-23 and 25-21.

The first set was Hancock’s best set. After being knotted at seven and nine, the Bulldogs pulled ahead by as much as five at 20-15 with Briell L’Esperance on the line. That morphed into a 23-18 lead before Forest Park’s Elsie Williams had the strong serve and posted a run of five to tie it at 23. Then with Harper Anderson on the line they won the two-point advantage at 26-24.

The key to victory tonight was not giving up,” said Trojans coach Bobbie Jo Anderson. “We stayed aggressive, and that has been what we have done all year to win games.

“It helped to win that first set. That gave us momentum for sets two and three.”

Set two was another back-and-forth battle with these two district champs tied more than eight times. However after even scores at 18, 19 and 20, the Trojans won the race to 25 with Vienna Price on line helping push the team to victory.

By set three, the Bulldogs seemed to be worn out. They could not keep up with Williams who led the Trojans out to a 5-1 lead and the girls from Forest Park never looked back. They led by as much as 15-9 and 24-20 before Ava Fischer put down the game-winning spike for a 25-21 sweep.

The Bulldogs end the season District 98 champions and with a record of 26-5-2.

“Hats off the Forest Park. They played consistent and very well,” said Hancock coach Brian Lampaa. “I am proud of our girls. We lost seven seniors last year, and weren’t expected to do much this season, but we sent far and accomplished a lot this year. Our program is moving forward just about everybody is coming back next season.”