Todd Rose | Daily Press Carney-Nadeau’s Mary Sivula (3) spikes the ball against North Central’s Shea LaCoursier (24) Tuesday in Powers.

POWERS — Rivals Carney-Nadeau and North Central fought one another in a highly entertaining volleyball match Tuesday night in Powers.

While the Wolves defeated the Jets 3-0, all three sets were close, 26-24, 25-21, 29-27.

“It seemed we were coming back all night on these guys,” said Wolves coach Steve Kedsch. “My team did a great job to dig down at the end and come together when they needed to. Probably, we shouldn’t have gotten ourselves in that position.

“I give North Central credit. They came out, out hustled us tonight, they played hard, and they wanted it more than we did. Fortunately, we came out on top.”

After two close sets to open the match, the Jets started set three in control going up on 4-0 after scoring the opening point followed by Ashley Neuens nailing two aces in a short three-point burst.

North Central went on another run, this one helmed by Katie Whitens to open up a 13-4 lead.

With the score 17-12 in the Jets’ favor, the Wolves staged a run of their own following a point for a North Central return hitting the Carney side of the ceiling.

Mary Sivula led the Wolves on an eight-point run from there — with two of her three aces of the night coming in the run — to bring the score to 21-17.

Sivula would help clinch the win moments later as the Wolves scored two-in-a-row to clinch the set 29-27 and match 3-0.

Coach Kedsch pointed out Sivula’s serving, Haley DeGrave’s netplay and Kenzie Walcher’s hitting as key points in the Wolves’ success.

“I thought Haley DeGrave did a great job at the net tonight,” he said. “Kenzie came out strong at the end. She was hitting the ball real well and covering the floor real well, something we really needed at that point.

“Mary finished with a strong serving run. Kept them off balance a bit, got the free balls to us, and we let Kenzie put them away at that point.”

DeGrave led the Wolves in kills with 19, while Olivia Acord led in digs with 15. Sam Kedsch had 33 assists on the night, as well.

On top of the rivalry match-up, it was also senior night in the North Central gym as it was the Jets’ final home match of the season. Prior to warmups, the team’s five seniors — Ashley Neuens, Ariel Poupore, Katie Whitens, Katelyn Deming and Shea LaCoursier — were honored by their younger teammates. All five were also a big part in the Jets’ performance, said coach Rick Mick.

“My intention was to start the seniors and probably eventually filter back into what the rotation we’ve been playing in,” Mick said. “But, they gave me absolutely no reason to make the change. They played great and fought hard. They played like it was their last match at home, and I’m so proud of them for that.”

The close match served as an indication of how far the Jets’ team has grown since their 3-0 (25-16, 25-12, 25-2) loss in the opener against Carney in August said Mick, who noted his respect for coach Kedsch and the Carney program.

“The one thing I said to girls at the start of the year when we were done playing Carney was ‘When we play them again at the end of the year on senior night, they’re will most definitely be better than they are now. What we have to do is make sure is we improve as much or more than they do,'” he said. “I feel like we met that goal.”

Up next for the Wolves are the Maroons in Menominee while the Jets head to Rapid River to meet the Rockets. Both matches will be played Thursday.