Photo courtesy of Joe Brown/West Central Tribune Marshall’s Paige Andries goes up for an attack during their match against Willmar on Thursday. The Tigers defeated the Cardinals 3-2.

WILLMAR — The Marshall volleyball team was put to the test in their season opener against Willmar on Thursday. The Tigers battled out of a 2-1 deficit to earn a come-from-behind, five-set victory (25-20, 20-25, 14-25, 25-23, 15-12) over the Cardinals.

Marshall came out of the gate in Set 1 looking to get its season on the right track and did just that with a opening frame victory by a score of 25-20, despite opening the set with an early deficit.

“I felt we really played well in Set 1 after we were down 7-0 early, and we turned the tables on them,” Marshall coach Dan Westby said.

Willmar would have a strong response of its own in the next two sets, as the Cardinals took the games by scores of 25-20 and 25-14, respectively.

With their backs against the wall, the Tigers dug deep and rallied back in the fourth set with a hard-fought 25-23 victory to force a fifth and final set. Marshall continued its resilient play throughout the back-and-forth frame, ultimately coming out with a 15-12 win to escape with the 3-2 victory.

“We faced an awfully good team,” Westby said. “We feel fortunate to win at their place.”

Logan Sherman led the Marshall offensive attack with a team-high 16 kills along with 22 set assists. Bria Morris added 13 kills in the win, while Jordyn Hilgemann finished with 10 kills and 24 digs.

Mia Schnaible led the Tigers defense with 35 digs.

Marshall (1-0) will continue play on Saturday at the Big South Conference Showcase in Redwood Falls. Due to an odd number of teams in the conference, Marshall will face nonconference opponent Mankato West, with first serve scheduled for 10 a.m.

Marshall 3, Willmar 2

Marshall 25 20 14 25 15

Willmar 21 25 25 23 12

KILLS: Marshall (Sherman 16, Morris 13, Hilgemann 10).

SERVING: Marshall (Schwarz 10-13-2, Hilgemann 22-25-1, Sherman 9-10-1).

DIGS: Marshall (Schnaible 35, Hilgemann 24, Bucher 10).

SET ASSISTS: Marshall (Schwarz 30, Sherman 22).

BLOCKS: Marshall (Andries 2, Sherman 1, Meier 1).

Dawson-Boyd 3,

Ortonville 0

ORTONVILLE – The Dawson-Boyd volleyball team opened its season with a sweep over Ortonville (25-15, 25-11, 25-19) on Thursday night.

Avery Bartunek led the way for Dawson-Boyd with 14 kills while Karoline Dahl added eight. Kyndall Franzky led in set assists with 23 while Tarah Johnson led in digs with 10.

Dawson-Boyd (1-0) will face Murray County Central on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.

Dawson-Boyd 3, Ortonville 0

Dawson-Boyd 25 25 25 – 3

Ortonville 15 11 19 – 0

Serving (Ace): Dawson-Boyd (Karoline Dahl 17-19 (5); Franzky 8-10 (3); Johnson 12-12 (1)).

Kills: Dawson-Boyd 27 (Bartunek 14; Karoline Dahl 8; Mamer 2).

Digs: Dawson-Boyd 28 (Johnson 10; Karoline Dahl 6; Bartunek 5).

Set Assists: Dawson-Boyd 25 (Franzky 23; Olson, Kate Dahl 1).

Blocks: Dawson-Boyd 4 (Mamer, Dahl 2).

Tennis

Marshall 7,

River Valley 0

SLEEPY EYE – The Marshall tennis team opened their season with a 7-0 victory over River Valley on Thursday.

Gionna Parsa won the No. 1 singles match for the Tigers, defeating Brooklyn Moldan 6-1, 6-1. The No. 2 match went to Leah Matzner, who defeated River Valley’s Kaydince Thoms 6-0, 6-0. Eden Knudson defeated Deniz Pemirturk 6-0, 6-1 at the No. 3 spot and Mariah Bergjord defeated Lexanna Lazatin 6-0, 6-0 in No. 4 singles.

In doubles action, Lexi Moat and Kaia Christensen defeated Kathrine Schroepfer and Presley Dockter 6-0, 6-2 at the No. 1 spot while Regan Loft and Leah Schaefer defeated Megan Stevens and Jasmyne Windschitl 6-1, 6-1 at the No. 2 spot. At No. 3 doubles, Maddy Bednarek and Danielle Ewing defeated Sydney Wahl and Julie Groebner 6-1, 6-1.

Marshall will continue play with a home match on Tuesday against New Ulm at 4:30 p.m.