Justin St. Ours | Daily Press Escanaba’s Katelyn Stalboerger (23) hits the ball over Gladstone’s Kenzingtin Pepin (22) and Joyce Barron (4) Thursday at Gladstone.

GLADSTONE — A strange atmosphere settled over the gym as all the raucous energy inherent to an Escanaba and Gladstone match was almost completely absent. The Escanaba volleyball team was able to break through the oddity — along with a cheering section comprised of the junior varsity squad — and keep fueling its rivalry with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-13, 25-14) victory over the Gladstone Braves in Gladstone Thursday.

The Braves — coming off a straight-set win at Menominee — paced the Eskymos in the first set until the end.

After an Esky (2-1) misplay, the Braves (1-2) reduced their deficit to 6-5, but a short run from Carney Salo put the Eskymos ahead 9-5. After a brief interruption, Esky’s Anna Smith put together a six-point run — including two aces — to create a 16-6 advantage.

“We practiced some things this week, and I love to see them come out on the floor — including some pancake blocks,” Eskymos coach Adam Lambert said. “Anna did great with that, and we’re working on some other things too. We had some quick sets we were working on, and those came through today.”

After that, it was Gladstone’s turn. The Braves’ Kenzingtin Pepin matched Smith’s two aces during her own six-point run to bring them within four.

“We’re really starting to come together running our offense,” Braves coach Averi Kanyuh said. “I feel like we did a good job with our serves, and with our blockers, it’s just timing. I’m really proud of the girls tonight regardless of what the score was.”

Gladstone climbed to within one, 18-17, before Esky’s Mari Bink scored on a block to interrupt the run.

“Tonight my girls looked like they were having some fun,” Lambert said. “We struggled a little bit with some tiny errors that we need to clean up still. It’s still early. This is only our third match. We’re seeing some things that the girls want to do differently, and that’s what I like to see. They’re knowing that they’re making mistakes now.”

After falling behind again, the Braves fought back within one again, 22-21, but a tip over from the Eskymos’ Kamin stole the momentum and sealed the set.

The Braves had difficulty finding their footing in the second set, and after closing to 13-10, couldn’t find the inside of the Esky court.

The Eskymos racked up an 11-3 run where Gladstone’s only points were due to Escanaba errors.

A kill from Pepin stalled the Eskymos victory run and made it 24-13, but the next Braves’ ball landed out of bounds to finish the set.

The two teams traded points through the beginning of the third set, but Esky gradually pulled away.

“(Next practice we’ll look at) passing,” Kanyuh said. “(We’ll be) going back to basics. We had too many free balls, but I felt like once we had our offense going, they were tipping more and sending free balls to deep corners. We were able to capitalize on that when that did happen.

“I think the team as a whole should be very proud of themselves, and we’re only going to get better from here.”

After a kill from Gladstone’s Joyce Barron reduced its deficit to 19-14, the Eskymos went on a six-point run to seal the set and the match.

“This is a great young team,” Lambert said. “We’ve got three sophomores on the team that are just really growing in their sport and their maturity. They’re being led by our seniors. We’ve got a really mature senior class, so they’re coming through.

“Overall, it was good competition, and it’s always fun to play in Gladstone. Even with no spectators, it’s still Gladstone, and they’re still rivals.”

Escanaba travels to Negaunee Tuesday, and Gladstone visits Ishpeming.

Escanaba

Aces — Salo 4, Barron 2, Kamin 2, Smith 2, Lancour 1, A. Rexford 1, Stalboerger 1; kills: Kamin 19, Stalboerger 10, Bink 3, Salo 2, Barron 1, Smith 1.