Photo by Deb Gau Tiger volleyball team members, including seniors Randi Wendorff and Anna Bucher, thank Marshall fans, teammates and coaches for helping make the Tiger’s state volleyball title possible.

MARSHALL — The Marshall volleyball team joined students, faculty and community members inside the Marshall High School gymnasium on Monday to celebrate a record-setting season.

“Our group, their line this year, their word this year was ‘Limitless,’ and they really were,” said MHS head volleyball coach Dan Westby. “It didn’t matter what they were asked to do, they found a way to get it done.”

The Marshall Tiger volleyball team and coaches got a warm reception as they walked into the MHS gym to cheers and applause while the pep band played the Marshall fight song.

“This is an exciting event that we get to gather and celebrate our volleyball team’s 2022 state championship,” said Marshall Activities Director Mitch Grunig. “As you know, this team has had another amazing season. They started the season ranked number one in class AAA, with a huge target on their back, and maintained that ranking throughout the entire season.”

When the Tigers defeated Benilde-St. Margaret on Saturday night, they not only won the state championship, but they made Minnesota history, Grunig said.

“Our entire school can take pride in this part of this historic moment. We are the first high school in Minnesota to win eight Minnesota state volleyball championships,” Grunig said.

“It was a very fun season, and we are very excited to end the season with back-to-back state championships,” senior Leah Jones said.

When the Tigers won their first-round game on Wednesday, it also marked Westby’s 700th career win in coaching, she said. Of that total, 513 of his wins were at Marshall.

“There’s a lot that goes into winning a state title. We spend hours upon hours in the gym. This summer, we spent a lot of time together, on and off the court,” Lexie Bednarek said.

The Tigers said they also had many people to thank for their success, including their coaches, the Tiger volleyball B squad, their parents and community members cheering them on. Support from Marshall students in the crowd made a big difference at the state championship, Westby and team members said.

“Thanks for having my back on Saturday, when they started throwing some shade my way,” Westby told students.

“When the Benilde-St. Margaret student section started chanting ‘Dan is rattled,’ you instantly came back with ‘Hall-of-famer!'” Caitlyn Christenson told students.

“I have to admit, we all started laughing in the huddle,” she said.

Westby said the Tiger girls deserved congratulations for their hard work and their state title.

“Every team, when the season starts, every team wants to win the state championship. But very few teams know what it takes to win the state championship,” Westby said.

This year, the Tigers had a group of eight seniors, who had stuck with the sport since fourth grade, he said.

“To have eight of them on the team this year is a lot. And boy, they hung together, and stuck together and fought for each other, and that’s why they ended up being state champions,” Westby said.

Westby also had a message for all the MHS students gathered at Monday’s celebration.

“I see what you guys do here every day, and you guys can all do great things. Put your nose to the grindstone and work, and good things will happen. All of you are capable of doing that,” he said. “You can do great things.”