Copper Kings volleyball swings past Gremlins
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HOUGHTON -- The Calumet Copper Kings volleyball team came out swinging on the road Tuesday night for a 3-1 win over the Houghton Gremlins. It was a well fought battle with the Kings winning sets one (25-14), three (25-13) and four (25-19). The Gremlins took the second set at 25-22.
"I really liked how we kept the ball in play," said Calumet coach Kate Bonacorsi. "We had very few errors, and we served really tough."
Case in point was the opening set. While the Gremlins scored first, the Copper Kings posted a service run of seven courtesy of Millie Loukus to jump out to a 7-1 lead, and the Copper Kings never looked back. A kill by Annika Stafford made it 15-6 and the Calumet girls rolled into an 11-point win.
The second set looked to be much the same with the Copper Kings jumping out to a 9-4 lead. However, the Gremlins got back into the match with Lydia Williams posting a service run of five, making it a 10-9 game. With Mia Lawson serving, the Gremlins tied it and even took a brief lead at 11-10.
Strong blocking and kills by Chloe Coppo (11 total) and Briana Antilla (10 total) put Calumet back in the lead at 13-12 and 18-16. These two rivals knotted at 20 and again at 21 and 22 before the Gremlins won the race to 25.
Momentum was still on the Gremlins' side of the net in the third set with a 4-2 lead courtesy of a strong serve by Alyssa Northey. The two rivals knotted at seven before Calumet pushed out to take a four-point lead at 14-10 with Loukus at the line. She led the Copper Kings with six aces. Teammate Braylinn Antilla had four.
A four-point lead turned into an eight-point difference with libero Jess Anderson serving at 20-12. The Copper Kings went on to outscore the Gremlins 5-1 and win the set.
"I liked how we took care of business in the third set," stated Bonacorsi. "It was very much a balanced night of scoring with a lot of points coming off the block. That is something that has improved a lot this season."
In the fourth set, the Copper Kings jumped out to a 6-1 lead courtesy of Loukus. However the Gremlins were not going down easy. With Katia Rudak at the line, the Houghton six were able to tie things up at seven and eight.
However that is as good as it got as Coppo posted a Copper Kings’ service run of four to take the lead at 13-9. It was then 17-12 with the Copper Kings Loukus at the line. While the Gremlins were able to rally to within four at 23-19, that was as good as it got. The Copper Kings put the match away.
Up next
The Copper Kings will welcome Gwinn to their gym on Thursday. That same day the Gremlins will host Kingsford.