Justin St. Ours | Daily Press

Gladstone’s Megan Crow (17) tips the ball over the net as Gwinn’s Kyleigh Kinzie defends Thursday at Gladstone.

GLADSTONE — The Gladstone volleyball team faced difficulties at home Thursday against Gwinn, but a recently returned Megan Crow and Alivia Blowers helped the Braves pull out a 3-2 (25-23, 17-25, 25-18, 27-25, 15-9) win after forcing a fifth set.

After a fourth set the Braves pushed into extra points, the two teams traded off through the beginning of the fifth.

Midway through the set, the Braves returned a ball into the net to reduce Gwinn’s deficit to 8-7.

However, a timeout from Gladstone halted the Modeltowners’ momentum, and after a long volley, a Gwinn (3-4) return landed out of bounds.

“I just really wanted to make the point that the girls needed to come together and finish this because they worked so hard,” Braves coach Averi Kanyuh explained.

Next, a communication error let one drop for the Modeltowners to add to the Braves’ advantage, 10-7.

“I think they stopped communicating,” Gwinn coach Toni Roberts said. “I don’t know what they got afraid of in that last set, but they just tensed up too much. They weren’t moving. They weren’t doing the things we know how to do. We missed a couple crucial serves down the run there, and it really helped turn a couple crucial pages for Gladstone.”

After a heated volley, Crow tipped the ball back over the net off-handed after Gladstone missed the block.

A Braves’ serve into the net gave it back to the Modeltowners and enabled another point to reduce their deficit to 11-9, but Crow jumped back in with back-to-back spikes to take control and move Gladstone within two points of the prize, 13-9.

After a Gwinn timeout, one of its returns landed out of bounds, but Jordana Hardy earned a kill to give the Modeltowners a chance and make it 14-10.

However, with it all on the line, Blowers finished the set and the match with a shot Gwinn couldn’t get a handle on.

“I think the girls that did well hitting, like Megan, just really took charge,” Kanyuh said. “We needed that. We needed someone to take charge and to get the job done.”

The Braves tied it up in the fourth set after leading for the majority of the set.

Gwinn trailed 21-17 but put up a 5-1 run after a timeout to tie it at 22.

Gladstone added two points, but back-to-back kills from Hardy tied it at 24, and a Gladstone double-hit gave Gwinn the advantage.

Another penalty turned it back over to the Braves, and Ahna Larson put them ahead while Blowers ended the set and forced a fifth with an ace, 27-25.

“I think the girls worked harder, and I think they worked quickly to fix their mistakes,” Kanyuh said. “We’ve had a long week, and they deserve this win.”

The Braves took the first set 25-23, but they lost control of the next two sets.

In the second, the Braves led early but fell under the Modeltowners by the middle of the set. The Braves pulled ahead by one near the end, but a kill from Hardy gave Gwinn possession. The Modeltowners’ Blaze Houle was then able to run with it, entering an eight-point service run — including two aces — to finish out the set 25-17.

The same happened in the third, with the Modeltowners taking control near the middle of the set. Gwinn’s captain, Tianna Taylor, ended the set with a hard spike, 25-18.

“We changed up our rotation a little bit,” Roberts said. “We’ve had a player out for the last two weeks due to quarantine — though she wasn’t sick, she had to be quarantined. It really turned things around having her back in the game. That’s where we were able to get fired up — getting (Jordana) Hardy back in the game.

“They communicated well, and they adapted to the rotations. They did the best they could do in the moment.”

Gladstone hosts Menominee Monday. Gwinn, which won the JV match, hosts Ishpeming Tuesday.