Justin St. Ours | Daily Press Escanaba’s Grayson LaMarche (22) tips the ball over the net against Gladstone’s Maci Menard (bottom center) and Meagan Stier (6) Thursday in Escanaba.

ESCANABA — A Great Northern Conference volleyball match went very much Escanaba’s way here Thursday night in a 3-0 (25-10, 25-14, 25-13) triumph over the Gladstone Braves.

Junior Mya Whitson provided the Eskymos with a six-point service run, including four aces, for a 9-3 lead in the opener.

Esky continued to build on its lead which reached 21-6 on a Braves’ hitting miscue.

An Esky hitting error enabled Gladstone to trim its deficit to 22-10 in the first set, which ended on a kill by junior Katelyn Stalboerger.

“We got our whole bench in, and the girls supported them,” said Esky coach Adam Lambert. “The girls played with a lot of confidence. We made a few errors, but everybody stayed up and had fun.”

The Eskymos, who improved to 3-0 in the GNC, gained a 5-0 lead in the second set on an ace by junior Mari Bink.

Gladstone trimmed its deficit to 5-2 on an Esky passing error.

Esky responded with an 11-3 run, taking a 16-5 advantage on a Braves’ hitting miscue.

The Braves came within 19-12 before a kill by Stalboerger and a kill and ace by Whitson gave Esky an insurmountable 22-12 cushion.

Gladstone led 3-2 in the third before Esky ran off five straight points for a 7-3 lead on a kill by Whitson.

After a hitting error gave the Braves a sideout, Esky answered with an 8-2 run, gaining a 15-6 advantage on a kill by Stalboerger.

Gladstone was within 20-11 before kills by Stalboerger and Whitson, and a Braves’ hitting miscue, sealed the match.

“Escanaba had some good service runs,” said Braves coach Averi Kanyuh. “I thought we could get a few more free balls, but they ran some good attacks from the back row. I’m happy our girls improved defensively in each set. We pulled up three players (sophomores Kennedy Sanville, Meagan Stier and Rylee Gerow) from the JV team, and they did well. I thought we played better against Esky than in some of our other matches.”

Stalboerger finished with nine kills and two blocks, both in the second set. Whitson served for seven aces, and sophomore Mara Liss collected seven assists.

“Gladstone has such a young team, although I thought they showed some good progress from the first to third set,” said Lambert.

The Eskymos, who also won the JV and freshman matches, head downstate to compete in the Traverse City Central Invitational Saturday.

The Braves host Ishpeming Tuesday.

Escanaba — Whitson (seven aces, four kills); Stalboerger (nine kills, two blocks); LaMarche (four kills, one block); Liss (one kill, seven assists); Wilson (one kill); Boosamra (one kill).