Eskymos defeat Sentinels in volleyball action
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ESCANABA -- The Escanaba Eskymos continued to show improvement here Wednesday night, earning a 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-22) volleyball victory over the Marquette Sentinels.
"Our serving made some strides and we did a nice job with serve receives," Esky coach Bev Ziebell said. "We've been working on our coverage and plays. We needed a few weeks to get it together."
Esky's performance also made first-year Sentinels' coach Heather Concha take notice.
"We saw them at camp at NMU (Northern Michigan University)," she said. "They're definitely serving harder."
Esky took a 16-13 lead on a defensive error by Marquette in the third set of this Great Northern Conference opener.
The Sentinels, however, didn't just go away.
Marquette took a 19-18 before the Eskymos tied the score on a service error.
Esky then took advantage of back-to-back hitting miscues by the Sentinels for a 21-19 lead.
The score was tied at 22 before a kill by junior Sarah LeMire sent the Eskymos ahead for good.
Junior Callie Thompson added a kill and a block by LeMire secured the decision.
"The girls are good at digging deep," Concha said. "It's on the coaches to get them going earlier in the set. Some of the girls are playing different positions. They fought hard for four sets against Sault Ste. Marie (in Tuesday's 3-1 loss). We have a deep bench with a lot of talent. It's just a matter of finding our rhythm. Communication and Consistency are what we need to work on. It's about learning how they respond to things."
Esky senior Ava Fitzpatrick started the second set with a five-point service run.
The Eskymos led 7-2 after back-to-back hitting miscues by Marquette.
Esky then committed a net violation and a hitting error, enabling the Sentinels to close within 7-4.
The Eskymos surged to a 12-5 lead on a service ace by Fitzpatrick and extended their cushion to 17-9 on an ace by junior Bella Wells.
Marquette trimmed its deficit to 17-13 on a kill by junior Idalia Berry and was still within 19-14 following an Esky service error.
A change-of-pace kill by junior Mara Anderson put the Eskymos up by six points.
Esky then extended its advantage to 22-14 on an ace by LeMire.
The Sentinels got within 22-16 on a passing error. The Eskymo, however, didn't allow them to get any closer.
"Sarah hit the ball real well tonight and Ava has really improved," Ziebell said. "We've been working on our mental game, and it seems to be working. They (Marquette) gave us a good fight, but we had a good presence up front with our blocking."
In the first set, Esky was trailing 9-8 following a serving miscue.
After a sideout, senior Brooklyn Beauchamp served for five consecutive points, helping the Eskymos surge to a 14-9 lead.
A net violation by Esky, enabling Marquette to shave its deficit to 14-11.
The Sentinels then committed a return error and a four-hit violation, enabling Esky to regain its five-point cushion.
An Esky hitting miscue enabled the Sentinels to close within 21-18.
The Eskymos then gained an insurmountable 23-18 advantage on a Marquette hitting error.
Beauchamp collected seven kills and LeMire added six.
"They moved to her (Beauchamp) a lot, but Brooklyn was on her game tonight," Ziebell said.
The preliminary matches went three sets with the Marquette jayvees and Esky's freshman black team prevailing.
Marquette travels to Menominee Tuesday and Esky hosts the Maroons Thursday.