Calumet volleyball dispatches Gwinn in three sets to advance
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CALUMET -- The Calumet Copper Kings volleyball team swung their way to a District 65 semifinal win Wednesday with a sweep of the visiting Gwinn Modeltowners, 25-18, 25-13 and 25-8.
Calumet coach Kate Bonacorsi liked her girls' competitive spirit throughout all three sets. The team’s mindset, according to her, was to simply take it one set at a time.
"We battled hard against a good Gwinn team," she said. "The girls never let up and kept their foot on the gas. Our senior leadership really stepped up."
With Jess Anderson on the line to open the first set, the Copper Kings sprinted ahead 9-3. It soon became a 10-point lead for Calumet at 16-6, forcing a Gwinn timeout.
While Gwinn was able to get within seven, that was as good as it got. An ace by Calumet’s Braylinn Antilla put the score at 20-13 and led to a set win.
"Braylinn Anderson had an amazing game in the way she played," said Bonacorsi.
Set two was much the same as Cali Hodges was at the line for pushing the Copper Kings out to an 11-4 lead. That morphed into a 20-12 lead with kills by Annika Stafford. Chloe Coppo finished it off at the line for the set win.
"I liked how we stayed consistent throughout," Bonacorsi said. "We really played our game."
If consistency meant holding the Modeltowners to fewer and fewer points each set, then the third set was right on their game plan.
The Copper Kings help their opponent to just eight points. It started with Anderson posting a service run of five. The girls in blue and gray then made it a 10-point lead by winning points. A kill by Coppo at 17-7 showed the Modeltowners were running out of gas. So much so that the Copper Kings went on to out score them 7-1 to close out the set and the match.
Up next
The Copper Kings will face off against the Jeffers Jets Friday for the District 65 championship game at Jeffers. First serve is set for 6 p.m.