Todd Rose | Daily Press Manistique’s Nora Cunningham (3) strikes the ball against Gladstone’s Alissa Sanville (1) during an MHSAA Division 3 District 66 Volleyball Tournament semifinal in Gladstone Wednesday.

GLADSTONE — The Manistique Emeralds are district championship match bound after defeating the Gladstone Braves 3-0 (25-12, 25-15, 25-19) in an MHSAA Division 3 District 66 semifinal match Wednesday night in Gladstone.

“The win feels great,” said Emeralds coach Amy Nixon. “At this point, it’s win or go home. So, if you don’t show up and do what you’re capable of, it could be the end for you. So, I’m really proud of my kids for doing a lot of really good things tonight and taking home the win in three.”

The Emeralds — who will face the Iron Mountain Mountaineers Friday night after a 3-0 win over Bark River-Harris — came out strong, utilizing several service runs throughout the first two sets to go up 2-0.

Once the third set began, however, the Braves flexed their muscles with Riley Gerow at the service line to take the lead 7-6. Gerow started the four-point run with an ace.

Solid plays at the net by Alissa Sanville and Meagan Stier kept the Braves in contention with the Emeralds.

On the other side of the net, however, were Ella Schuetter and Sarah McDaniel, who handled things at the net for Manistique.

A ferocious spike from Schuetter sealed the third set win for the Emeralds.

“Offensively, I’d say Ella Schuetter (stood out). She led our team in kills. So, I think she did a great job there,” said Nixon. “I think (Sarah) did great, too. She’s really striking the ball. Everybody thinks about Ella, so when Sarah gets up there and can shine and do her thing, it’s an advantage for us to be able to have two middles that can get kills for us.”

Nixon also mentioned the Emeralds’ libero Ava Hinkson and setter Emma Jones as other standouts.

“Defensively, (Ava Hinkson) was moving a lot,” she said. “She got some really great digs, too. Especially when the offense is difficult to read from their side.

“Emma got to a lot of balls and was able to make hittable sets out of those, too. But, I feel like everybody came in and contributed at some point.

Schuetter had 13 kills for the Emeralds, while Hinkson had 11 digs and Jones nine. Jones also had 25 assists on the night.

The season comes to an end for the Gladstone Braves and, despite the loss, coach Averi Kanyuh is proud of how her team handled the season and match.

“I’m very pleased with how we ended things here,” Kanyuh said. “I think the girls really stepped up. My seniors did a great job leading. They really left it all on the court.”

Kanyuh added Jadyn Bovin’s back row play and Stier’s net play were high points for the night.

“Jadyn was all over the place passing and Meagan Stier really showed her strengths as our sophomore,” she said.”I think we all came together as a team tonight, and it definitely showed. They left it all out there.”

The seniors, Kanyuh noted, stepped up as leaders for the underclassmen throughout the season and hopes to use the examples set by those seniors to build the program going forward.

“Our seniors definitely did a great job welcoming the sophomores and younger classmen that I had to pull up,” she said. “So, I’m expecting big things as far as the juniors filling the shoes for leadership with the seniors next year and the sophomores hitting the ground running with a year of varsity under their belt know.”

The Friday night championship match between the Emeralds and Mountaineers will be the second time the teams have met this year. The first, Iron Mountain took the win 3-1.

“They’re going to be tough,” said Nixon. “We’ll practice (Thursday) and we know what to prepare for so I think that it will be a good match.

“(But) kudos to Gladstone; they really put up a good fight. I’m just happy with what my team accomplished tonight.”