Evan McKnight Daily Press The Mid Peninsula Wolverines experienced some difficulty running an offense here Thursday night in a volleyball loss to the Stephenson Eagles Thursday.

ST. NICHOLAS — The Mid Peninsula Wolverines experienced some difficulty running an offense here Thursday night in a 3-0 (25-12, 25-13, 25-13) volleyball loss to the Stephenson Eagles.

Mid Pen led 5-4 in the third set before the Eagles got a sideout on a kill by Ava Hummel.

Mia Hauser then served for six straight points, helping Stephenson gain an 11-5 cushion.

The Wolverines were within 13-7 after an Eagles’ hitting error, but were unable to get any closer.

“Stephenson is one of the higher ranked teams in the state,” said Mid Pen coach Emily Kayser. “We struggled with serve receives and played a lot of defense. We didn’t get to attack as much as we’d like. We had a lot of unforced errors. Hats off to them. They played real well.”

In the second set, the Wolverines took a 4-3 lead on a kill by senior Alexa Haring.

Stephenson surged to a 9-4 lead on a service ace by Kayla Swanson and extended it to 14-5 on an ace by Hauser.

The Wolverines were unable to get any closer than eight points through the remainder of the second.

“This was a great match for us,” said Stephenson coach Jackson Miller. “I thought our girls played very well. We knew they had some tough servers, but did a good job with serve receives. We put all the girls in and they did an excellent job. Our energy level was real high. We knew we were probably the favorite coming in here. We’re trying to stay focused and get better.”

In the opener, Mid Pen trailed 6-3 following a kill by junior Rachel Johnson.

The Wolverines were still within 8-4 before the Eagles cashed in on a series of miscues and extended their lead to 12-4.

Mid Pen was then unable to get closer than seven points through the rest of the first set.

Johnson recorded five kills, Haring collected five assists and senior Kora Prater had 15 assists for the Wolverines, who also dropped the jayvee match.

Hauser and Mattie Prestin had seven kills each and Swanson finished with 23 assists for the Eagles, who also won the jayvee match 25-23, 25-11.

Both teams resume Tuesday with Mid Pen hosting Superior Central and Stephenson hosting North Central

Stephenson — Havelka (four aces, one kill); Swanson (three aces, 23 assists); Prestin (seven kills); Hauser (seven kills).

Mid Peninsula — Haring (two aces, one kill, five assists, three digs); Prater (one ace, 15 digs); Johnson (five kills, one dig); Croasdell (one kill, one assist, four digs); Hemminger (one kill, three digs); Koth (one assist, two digs); Carignan (three digs).