Todd Rose | Daily Press The Escanaba Eskymos celebrate a victory over the Kingsford Flivvers in the Division 2 district opener Tuesday night in Escanaba.

ESCANABA — The Escanaba Eskymos kept their post-season hopes alive here Tuesday night, earning a 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-22) volleyball triumph over the Kingsford Flivvers in a Division 2 district opener.

Esky hosts Houghton in the championship match Thursday at 7 p.m. The Flivvers finished 12-3.

“That was a tough one,” said Esky coach Adam Lambert. “We have some players under quarantine and the girls were playing for them. We tried a few things tonight. We usually run three setters, but tonight we used two (Grace Charles and Mari Bink) and they stepped up.”

Esky was clinging to a 23-22 lead following a hitting error. The Eskymos, however, scored the last two points for the victory.

The finale was tied at 18 following an Esky net violation.

Kingsford then committed a service error and Esky senior Anna Smith spiked the ball into the right corner for a kill and a 20-18 lead.

After the Flivvers scored the next point, Kamin recorded a kill and junior Bailey Barron followed with another for a 22-19 lead.

A kill by Grace Roberts brought Kingsford within 22-20. Esky, however, was able to keep its lead.

“Our girls never gave up,” said Kingsford coach Jaclynn Kreider. “They battled hard and we’re proud of them for that. We were just glad to have the opportunity to play tonight. It didn’t look good a couple weeks ago. Our school was shut down and we hadn’t played in 2 1/2 weeks. We wanted to stay mentally stable and overall the girls did a pretty good job of that. Our serve receives were better than I expected, especially for coming off the long break.”

Kingsford scored the first four points and led 11-9 in the opener following a kill by Roberts.

The score was tied at 14 in the first set. Allison Korpi then provided the Eskymos with a five-point service run, and two kills each by Barron and Kamin helped them gain an insurmountable 20-14 advantage.

“Nicole was on fire,” said Lambert. “Kingsford tried to adjust, but she was hitting out of her shoes. Bailey did a nice job for us, and Anna had some amazing kills. Our serving was also real good. We were probably about 95 percent on serves tonight.”

In the second set, Kingsford took a 5-2 lead on a kill by Talia Wallis before the Eskymos went ahead 6-5 on a Flivvers’ hitting miscue.

The Flivvers were still within 13-10 before Esky got a sideout on a kill by Bink and started to pull away.

Kamin finished with 19 kills and three blocks. Barron added 11 kills and 12 digs. Smith tallied seven kills, one block and 15 digs. Bink recorded 13 assists and 12 digs. Charles had 10 assists, and Maysie Lancour had 21 digs.

Senior Christy Glodowski led the Flivvers with nine kills and four blocks. Wallis tallied five kills and 12 digs. Roberts also had 12 digs. Erickson collected 20 assists, and Emma Andrews had 20 digs.

“This is a real young team,” said Kreider. “I thought it’d be a learning year, and the girls exceeded my expectations. We had to overcome a lot of adversity. We lost our setter (Erickson) for two weeks, but Allie LaVarnway did a great job filling in. They (Esky) played real well defensively. We had great opportunities to get some long (service) runs, but Kamin put us on our heels a couple times. They were able to maintain take back the momentum.”

Escanaba — Kamin (one ace, 19 kills, three blocks, two assists); Smith (one ace, seven kills, one block, 15 digs); Barron (11 kills, one assist, 12 digs); Bink (three kills, 13 assists, 12 digs); Charles (one kill, 10 assists, two digs); Korpi (one kill, one dig); Dutton (one assist); Lancour (21 digs).

Kingsford — Roberts (three aces, two kills, 12 digs); Glodowski (one ace, nine kills, four blocks); LaVarnway (one ace, eight digs); Wallis (five kills, 12 digs); Terrian (four kills, two blocks); Allen (one kill); Erickson (20 assists); Andrews (20 digs).

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