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Esko's Chiara Houser hits past the defense of Cloquet's Hannah Van Hoever (20) and Josie Lindstrom during Tuesday's match, a 3-0 win for Esko.
Esko fans helped create some home court advantage Tuesday in a match against Cloquet.
Entering Tuesday's night volleyball match, Cloquet and Esko were on opposite ends of season records. Esko entered the game with a record of 13-2 while the Lumberjacks came in with a 6-8 record and a much younger team than the team that had made it to the section title match the last few seasons. In the end, it was Esko that came away with an impressive 25-11, 25-12, 25-18 home win.
"I was a little surprised at the scores, but when we are on our game we are a pretty good team," said Esko coach Pete Stasiuk. "We were able to take advantage of some things that Cloquet struggled with tonight, and that helped us get a lot of momentum."
In the first two games the Lumberjacks struggled to handle Esko's serving, which gave Esko early leads.
"Esko is a solid team that got off to a strong start," said Cloquet coach Heidi Anderson. "I thought we improved as the night went along."
Esko got a strong overall effort across the board from their team including 11 kills and two ace serves from Clara Swanson, and nine kills from Maya Johnson to go along with 12 set assists and three ace serves.
"We serve tough," Stasiuk said. "Cloquet has all new passers on their team this year, and we were able to take advantage of that."
Esko also got seven kills from Cassie Stark to go along with three ace serves, seven kills and two ace serves from Aubrey Micken, and 19 set assists from Sydney Kazel.
"These two teams know each other well because we play each other in the off-season as well," Anderson said.
Both Carmen Davis and Ava Maslowski led the 'Jacks with five kills each, while Jose Lindstrom added three kills. Ella Maslowski chipped in with eight set assists and two ace serves, Ella Anderson had four set assists and seven digs, and Emma Warnygora finished with eight assists.
The win improved Esko's record to 14-2 on the season.
"If you ask me if I am surprised at where we're at, I'd say yes and no," Stasiuk said. "I saw this group play this summer, and saw how much they improved, so I knew we'd be good, so I'm not too surprised."
The loss drops Cloquet's record to 6-9 on the season.
Up next for Cloquet was a Thursday matchup against Denfeld, while Esko was set to face Barnum.
