Justin St. Ours | Daily Press Escanaba’s Grayson LaMarche (22) spikes the ball past Cheboygan’s Ava Bury (5) during an MHSAA Division 2 District 33 Volleyball Tournament semifinal in Escanaba Wednesday.

ESCANABA — A promising start went south on the Escanaba Eskymos here Wednesday night in a 3-0 (26-24, 25-16, 25-14) volleyball loss to the Cheboygan Chiefs in a Division 2 district semifinal.

Esky built a 20-10 lead in the opener and still led 22-13 and 23-16 after hitting errors by the Chiefs.

Cheboygan followed with a sideout and climbed within 23-21 on a two-hit violation.

The Chiefs then committed a two-hit violation of their own before winning the first set on an Esky hitting miscue.

“We started the way we should have played the whole match,” said Esky coach Adam Lambert. “They’re a very good team, but we dropped the ball tonight. Our passing wasn’t where we needed it to be, and our communication broke down. The most impressive thing about them is when they were down by 11 points after a long bus ride, they didn’t give up. After that, the momentum went their way.”

The second set was tied at nine after a block attempt by Cheboygan senior Kyla Thater sailed out of bounds.

Cheboygan surged to a 13-9 lead on a net violation before the Eskymos got a sideout on a hitting miscue.

Esky was still within 19-16 following a kill by senior Bailey Barron but didn’t score again in that set.

“All year, it has been a goal of ours that when we win the first set, we have to win the second,” said Cheboygan coach Kris Jewell. “If we’re down big in a set, we tell the girls to gain momentum. Our senior leadership helped us turn things around in the first set. We noticed they got quieter, and their fans got quieter after the first set. Kudos to them. As soon as they got a point, it was almost like they were playing for match point.”

Esky junior McKayla Mott started the third set with a service ace.

The Chiefs then got a sideout, and senior setter Jackie Seaman served for 12 straight points, giving them an insurmountable 13-1 advantage.

Esky trimmed its deficit to 15-7 on a kill by Stalboerger but was unable to get any closer.

“The girls fought to the end,” said Lambert. “Next year is going to be a good year. We have our two setters coming back, and we’ll be able to put Mari Bink on the left side where she prefers to play.”

Seaman finished with 21 service points and 16 assists. Thater and Basanese collected eight kills apiece. Junior Kenzie Burt added four kills and 13 assists, and classmate Mya Collino had three kills and four blocks.

“Jackie is one of our best servers,” said Jewel. “She hits about 99 percent of her servers. We’re a pretty good serving team. We’re averaging about 95 percent.”

Cheboygan travels to Sault Ste. Marie for the championship match Friday.