MARQUETTE — With the Great Northern Conference all but locked up for the Marquette Senior High School varsity volleyball team, Tuesday night’s match versus visiting GNC foe Escanaba had more of a fun feel to it.

The Redettes topped the Eskymos in straight sets, 25-20, 25-15, 25-16, at the MSHS gym, and officially clinched the GNC title outright as Marquette finished the conference campaign with a 7-1 record.

MSHS head coach Mike Morgan said it felt good to wrap up GNC play with a strong victory over a solid conference opponent.

“It was a good win,” he said. “It was nice to bring the GNC title back to Marquette. I thought the girls played really well, they were aggressive and it was nice to see them get that win on Senior Night and Parents Night.”

Morgan added that dictating the tempo was a key factor.

“Escanaba was scrappy, but I thought our girls controlled the match very well from the get-go,” he said. “We played good defense and the girls were swinging aggressively.

“I’m very proud of this team…. They’re learning and every time they go on the court these kids learn and get better. That’s all you can ask for as a coach.”

Eskymos head coach Adam Lambert said despite the loss, his players never put their heads down in what was a competitive match.

“That was fun,” he said. “It’s the end of the season, it’s our last regular-season (match) and we knew they (Marquette) already won the conference.”

“Good for them, we’re proud of Marquette and they played some excellent volleyball. We came to have fun and we competed with them.

“We don’t have their height, we don’t have their power, we just have a bunch of scrappy girls that love to play volleyball.”

“They came out, they did well, everyone got in and had fun.”

Lambert added that the focus shifts to the next week’s district tournament.

“We’re really focused on the postseason now,” he said. “We’ll see what happens. Volleyball is a crap shoot. You don’t know what’s going to happen or who’s going to show up. That’s kind of where we’re focused, on fun and next week.”

Marquette notched three of the night’s first four points with three kills from freshman Seiler Hruska. With the Redettes up 5-2, the Eskymos scored the next three and tied the score on a block from junior Alexandra Cooper.

Later in the set, the Redettes pulled ahead 15-12 on another kill from Hruska, prompting Escanaba to call its first timeout. Marquette earned the next four points after the timeout, however, including another Hruska kill. Down 19-12 at that point, the Eskymos climbed back and pulled within 23-20. Marquette put the set away with two more points on a kill by senior Avery Ledy and an Escanaba attack error.

Set 2 started with a 5-0 Redettes run before the Eskymos fired back with a four-point streak of their own, including a service ace from senior Paxton Johnson.

The Redettes followed that up with the next four, including consecutive kills by Hruska and a service ace from Ledy, to go up 9-4.

Escanaba was unable to rally, and with Marquette up 21-15, the Redettes earned the final four points to take the set.

The Eskymos started Set 3 with a 4-2 lead before another run, this one of six points, put the Redettes up 8-4.

But Escanaba pulled within 16-15 on an ace by senior Haillie McDonough, though only managed one more point from there.

Hruska led the Redettes with 13 kills, 13 digs and an ace, while junior Madison Carter added seven kills. Senior Mikaila Graham also chipped in with 10 digs and two kills, while junior Tellena Nystrom had six digs and an ace. Junior Kennedy Tate had three aces.

Sophomore Nicole Kamin led the Eskymos with 10 kills while senior Kathryn Wilson and junior Taylor Ray chipped in with three. Junior Jalin Olson led Esky defensively with 25 digs.

Marquette travels to Gwinn on Thursday for its final regular season match, while Escanaba begins Division 2 district play next Wednesday at the winner of Monday’s Houghton-Menominee match.