Kevin Zini photo Superior Central’s Emily Augustyn (7) and Riley Johnson (10) look to block a shot from Ironwood’s Savannah Hannu (7) during an MHSAA Division 4 Regional Volleyball Final Thursday in Crystal Falls.

CRYSTAL FALLS — The two teams battling for the Division 4 Regional 25 trophy Thursday night were both playing to create a legacy. The Superior Central Cougars were looking for the first regional championship in school history, and the Ironwood Red Devils were seeking their first regional crown since 2001.

In the end, it was the Red Devils who etched their mark into school history with a 25-16, 25-23, 25-20 sweep of the Cougars at Eddie Chambers Gymnasium.

The Red Devils improved to 20-3 on the season and will face Indian River Inland Lakes in a state quarterfinal on Tuesday in Munising. Indian River Inland Lakes upended Rudyard on Thursday in four sets.

For the Cougars, the end of their month-long undefeated run was both abrupt and surprising.

“Our jitters got the best of us, and we just couldn’t overcome it,” Coach Kris Bray said. “We were very tight. I tried to get them to relax and have fun, but they were like, ‘No, we want to win.'”

Superior Central did jump out to a 4-1 lead in the opening set and held the lead until mid-set when Ironwood went on a 7-0 run to take a 14-10 advantage. Ironwood libero Alaya Ruotsala recorded six straight service points, including two aces, as the Red Devils took control of the set and the match.

As opposed to the impressive showing they gave in their regional semifinal victory over Forest Park on Tuesday, the Cougars struggled with their passing and court coverage nearly the entire match. On the other hand, the Red Devils passed accurately, covered the court well and attacked efficiently.

“I thought they really played well, and they played at a higher level than I expected because, on all the film I watched, they didn’t play like they played tonight,” Bray said. “But maybe I was just watching them on off nights.”

Ironwood coach Lisa Fechter said her team’s passing was a big factor in the win.

“I knew if we just passed well that we could hang with them,” Fechter said. “They have some strong attacks, but our passing was really on point.”

The Red Devils kept their roll going in the second set, building a 7-1 lead. The Cougars kept battling, mainly on the strength of senior middle hitter Riley Johnson’s seven kills in the set. In fact, Superior Central crawled back from a 20-14 deficit to knot the set at 23-all, forcing an Ironwood timeout.

But just as it happened the entire match, the Cougars committed errors at crucial times, including the final two points on the second set.

Superior Central fell into an 8-1 hole in the third set and managed to stay close but could never get over the hump. Two kills from Emma Rutter helped the Cougars pull within 23-20, but Ironwood finished off the set and the match on a back-row kill by Tia Lahti and a push by Superior Central that went into the net.

Fechter said that her team’s cheering section, which included a boisterous student section that traveled to Crystal Falls on a fan bus, had a large effect on the match.

“The energy that they gave us really helped us push over the top tonight, and I think it helped us win in three. There were points in time when it was close coming down to the end, and that cheering got into the other team’s head and it helped us.”

The Cougars will lose stalwarts Johnson, Rutter, Charlotte Charlebois, Maggie Rondeau and Katrina Augustyn to graduation.

“This group, when they started with me in seventh and eighth grade, I knew that they were going to be really good, and they kind of proved it,” Bray said of her seniors. “They’ve really set the standard for our program because everybody sees, ‘Oh, this is what high school volleyball can look like.’

“Hopefully that’s going to help our program continue building.”