GWINN — It was a fight to the finish here Thursday night as the Manistique Emeralds escaped with a 3-2 (25-15, 16-25, 25-20, 15-25, 15-11) volleyball triumph over the Gwinn Modeltowners for the Division 3 district title.

The Emeralds (18-11-3) will meet Painesdale Jeffers (10-12) or West Iron County (6-17) in a regional opener at Gwinn Tuesday at 6 p.m. The Modeltowners finished 11-14-2.

“That’s a special team,” Emeralds’ assistant coach Tim Nixon said about the Modeltowners. “We haven’t seen a team like that from year to year.”

The Emeralds took a 14-9 lead on a service ace by senior outside hitter Kyra Carlson, then committed service and hitting miscues, enabling the Modeltowners to shave their deficit to 14-11.

Gwinn then committed a hitting error of its own, enabling the Emeralds t

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