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ESCANABA -- The Gladstone volleyball team stormed onto the court after the conclusion of a Great Northern Conference meet here Tuesday night.
No, this wasn't the state finals.
This, however, was the first time in quite a while the Braves defeated Escanaba on their home floor.
Gladstone had just swept the Eskymos in straight sets for the second time this season. This time the final score was 25-12, 25-16, 27-25.
"I don't really know how long it has been, but I think it was more than four years," Braves' senior Adele Ostlund said. "The third set is always the hardest one to get. That was really a good one. It felt really good to get it done in three."
The match ended on a passing error by the Eskymos.
"It was very fun," Braves' coach Kaitlyn Hardwick said. "The girls definitely wanted it. They wanted to get it done in three so they could work on homecoming stuff. Everybody played a part. This is huge going into our next match against Kingsford. We'll be ready."
Esky took a 22-19 lead in the finale on a kill by senior Ava Fitzpatrick.
Gladstone surged ahead 23-22 on another Esky passing miscue.
It was tied at 25 apiece before the Braves regained the lead on a kill by Ostlund.
"In the first set we were all having fun, then we kept up the energy in the second set," she said. "We started to let up in the third set. You can't do that. You can't give the other team a chance to get back into the match."
Esky was trailing 7-5 after a two-hit violation.
After a sideout, senior Sarah Carter started a five-point service run, helping the Eskymos gain an 11-7 on a kill by junior Emma Parlato.
A kill by senior Mercedes Koski enabled the Braves to regain the lead at 12-11.
The Eskymos responded again, gaining a 17-14 lead when senior Brooklyn Beauchamp tipped the ball over the net for a kill.
Esky still led 20-17 when the Braves used a time-out.
Kills by sophomore Adelynn Sanville and Koski shaved Gladstone's deficit to 20-19.
Esky answered by gaining its three-point lead, setting the stage for Gladstone's last comeback.
"We just didn't have the steam in the end," Esky coach Bev Ziebell said. "Our passing and defense was a little off tonight. We couldn't put up enough blocks to slow them down. They have some tall girls up front and we had trouble getting around them. We settled for freeballs a little too much and our defense was a little flat. It was little bit of everything tonight. We need to get more blocking. The girls are willing to work and we got to do it."
The first set appeared to have the makings of a rout as the Braves gained a 7-2 lead on a kill by junior Lauren Pare.
Hitting and defensive errors by the Braves, however, enabled the Eskymos to trim their deficit to 7-4.
Another kill by Pare put Gladstone up 11-4.
Esky then closed within 11-8 on back-to-back service aces by junior Mara Anderson.
A block by Sanville and passing and serve receive errors by Esky helped the Braves extend their lead to 17-8.
The Eskymos shaved their deficit to 18-11, but a hitting miscue and a kill by senior Brooklyn Lauscher enabled the Braves to gain an insurmountable 20-11 advantage.
Esky took an 11-10 lead in the second set on a kill by junior Sarah LeMire.
The score was tied at 12 before a kill by Koski provided Gladstone with a sideout and a 13-12 lead.
Sanville then provided the Braves with a five-point run and Ostlund recorded a kill for an 18-12 cushion.
The Eskymos got within 19-16 before a kill by Ostlund gave the Braves a sideout and a four-point advantage.
Senior Joselyn Mills then served for five consecutive points to help close the second set which ended on a kill by junior Ella Bracket.
The Eskymos visit Marquette and the Braves host Kingsford tonight at 7.