Photo by Sam Thiel Members of the Marshall volleyball team celebrate after defeating Concordia Academy in the Class AA semifinals Friday.

ST. PAUL – All season long, the Marshall volleyball team has shown its grit and never-say-die attitude. When the Tigers came to the Class AA Tournament, they were faced with a difficult opponent in Park Rapids Area in the quarterfinal round. Marshall ultimately prevailed, using a hard-fought effort to take out the Panthers in four sets.

Friday night’s semifinal matchup against Concordia Academy-Roseville was no different. The Tigers and Beacons engaged in a battle for the ages, with Marshall once again using late rallies in the match to earn a 3-1 victory and a spot in the Class AA Championship today.

Marshall coach Dan Westby said regardless of the outcome, he was extremely proud of the way his kids battled for everything and their ability to find a way to win.

“Between Sets 3 and 4, I got to the bench and just put my head down and I said, ‘Regardless of how this thing ends, one of the things I wanted to convey to you guys is how proud I was of this team,” Westby said. Boy, they competed hard and both teams did, but our kids battled every point, they scratched, clawed and found a way to get it done. One of the things we’ve talked about this postseason is it doesn’t matter what it looks like, just find a way to get it done and boy, our kids did that. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Last season, the Tigers earned a fourth-place finish at the state tournament. Right from that moment, Westby said his players were determined to change that feeling in the next season.

“To their credit, they sat in the locker room after we got fourth place a year ago and they said, ‘You guys, this is not happening next year,'” Westby said. “I think the energy and effort was evidence of that and it was all the way through and that’s difficult to do, especially in a close match like that to focus and maintain that focus for that length of time. So again, hats off to our kids.”