The 2024 Manistique volleyball team celebrates a win over Escanaba on Oct. 31, 2024 at the Bonifas Gymnasium at Manistique Middle and High School. (“The Big Dog” Mitch Vosburg/Daily Press)

MANISTIQUE — With one last match to go until postseason play, Manistique faced one of its toughest foes yet Thursday night.

On this evening No. 5 Escanaba rolled into town. The Eskymos already had a 25-18, 25-22 win over the Emeralds from Sept. 28’s Marquette Invitational.

Then add senior night into the equation. For Clara Cunningham, Leah Goudreau, Keira Frankovich, Kamry Flodin and Alexis McDade, it was their final guaranteed match inside the confines of Bonifas Gymnasium.

With emotions running high and fierce competition on the other side of the net, anything could’ve happened. In the end, Manistique’s seniors shined when it needed them the most in a 25-22, 28-26, 25-21 win.

“They had the drive to play every ball like every point mattered,” Emeralds coach Amy Nixon said. “The scores were so close and they weren’t rattled at all. Their emotional stability is what gave us the drive to keep moving forward.

After seven ties in five lead changes, Esky pulled ahead to take a 21-18 lead, forcing Nixin to burn a timeout. Then Goudreau came through with one of her 17 kills on the night, lighting a spark on the Emeralds side of the floor.

Down 22-21 after a Grayson LaMarche attack error, Cunningham stepped to the service line. The senior ripped off back-to-back aces, taking a 23-22 lead while leaving Esky coach Beverly Ziebell no choice but to burn a timeout.

Goudreau then came up with another big swing. Esky couldn’t handle it. 24-22 Manistique. The ball once again went to Goudreau in attack mode. Esky libero Harlee Coolman, who earned her 1,000th career dig two days earlier, got her hands on the ball, but couldn’t cleanly dig it.

The Emeralds took a pivotal 1-0 match lead.

“We knew Esky was going to be tough. We knew it was going to be a battle,” Nixon said. “But we’ve been peaking at the right time. We played great last week, this was the night to put everything together.”

Manistique led by as many as five points midway through set two, but the Eskymos rallied. The front line of the orange and black, which possessed a height advantage, began to wreak havoc.

Primarily, LaMarche served as the thorn on the Emeralds side, coming away with a crucial block to tie the match at 22.

But no matter what Esky did right in the end of set two, it came with a negative.

An Esky service error was matched by a LaMarche kill. A two-hit violation by Esky senior Katey Lamb was met by another LaMarche kill. Esky junior Ava Stalboerger’s kill attempt sailed slightly long and slightly left. LaMarche came away with yet another kill.

Then Esky junior Susie Moberg entered the chat, earning a kill to give the Eskymos a 26-25 lead at this point.

Then Goudreau came through again, blasting a pinpoint laser of a kill attempt into the back left portion of the floor in bounds. We’re tied at 26.

Then Esky sophomore Brooklyn Beauchamp misfired on a kill attempt. The ball never made it over the net.

After eight ties and three lead changes, Goudreau stepped back to the service line. One good serve and the Emeralds survive the marathon and take a 2-0 match lead.

She fired her serve. A laser. And like Justin Verlander famously pinpointing a curveball after hurling 120 pitches in the bottom of the seventh inning on a hot August night for an inning-ending strike three call, Goudreau pinpointed the ball precisely in the back left corner of the floor.

Ace. Emeralds lead 2-0.

“Leah is so smart with the ball,” Nixon said. “It’s her third year on varsity. She has that experience, it’s like ice in her veins. When the moment is on the line and we get her the ball she’s going to get the job done.”

Set three saw more back and forth action. After 10 ties and three lead changes the third set was knotted at 21. Goudreau came up with another big swing. While the Eskymos got their hands on the ball in front of the net, the ball ricocheted straight to the floor.

Manistique led 22-21.

After back-to-back attack errors from the Eskymos, the ball once again went to Goudreau. She leaped up and floated the ball to the left side of the floor. LaMarche and Stalboeger leaped up to save it, but with no success.

The Emeralds claimed the set’s final four points to knock off the Eskymos.

“We came into this match a little too overconfident,” Esky coach Beverly Ziebell said. “My girls have been doing really well this year. I think we expected it to be a little easier than it was. They’ve got a couple of great hitters. We shut them down a little bit, but just not enough.”

Now both teams gear up for district action. The Emeralds will compete in division 3 and face Menominee in Manistique on Wednesday. A win over the Maroons sets up a district championship match against either Iron Mountain, Gwinn or the all familiar Bark River-Harris Broncos.

“We couldn’t ask for a better two weeks

Cunningham led all players with four aces. Goudreau also had 20 digs. Flodin led the Emeralds with 27 digs. Maya Carlson tallied 16 digs and a trio of kills. Alexis McDade produced nine assists. Aaliyah Sears added eight helpers and Ashlyn Jones had five assists.

Coolman finished with 23 digs and a pair of aces. Clara Braun added 14 digs, 11 assists and an ace. Katey Lamb added 14 digs, five kills and an assist. Sophie Lehto had an assist and a dig. Lily Nelson produced five digs and two kills. Landry Bray had a kill. Moberg finished with two kills. Mary Kate Tourangeau added 11 helpers, four digs and a kill. Beauchamp finished with three digs. Bet Montal added six kills and two digs. LaMarche totaled 14 kills, six digs and an assist. Stalboerger added four kills, three digs and an assist.

The Eskymos will compete in Division 2 and face Gladstone in Gladstone at 6 p.m. Monday with the winner facing Negaunee on Wednesday. While Thursday’s loss may come with a bitter taste, it simultaneously gives the orange and black a chance to regroup before Monday.

“We had a little bit of trouble with our hitting tonight,” Ziebell said. ” We’ll just work on being more accurate. We did pretty good on coverage, but we’ll still work on it a little more.”