Photo by Sam Thiel The Marshall volleyball team poses with their Class AA consolation championship trophy after defeating Watertown-Mayer 3-0 at Xcel Energy Center on Saturday.

ST. PAUL – Not many teams get to end their season on a win. Whether it’s through a championship or in consolation, only a select few groups get to experience that winning one more time.

After extending its season another day, the Marshall volleyball team closed their trip to state with a chance to end their season on a high note against Watertown-Mayer in the consolation championship. Putting their all on the line, the Tigers were able to emerge victorious with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-15) win over the Royals and earn a fifth-place finish in the Class AA tournament.

Marshall coach Dan Westby said he was proud of how his team overcome a lot of obstacles during the tournament and continued to battle to cap their season with a win.

“Considering everything that our kids had to deal with this week, you certainly could have understood if they at some point said, ‘This is too much for us to handle.’ But I’m so proud of the fact that that never even entered into their minds and they dealt with everything really well,” Westby said. “I couldn’t be more proud of them, they battled so hard; we played three very good opponents down here and we came away 2-1 and anytime you can do that at the state tournament, I think it’s a productive season. I’m happy for our kids and their effort and we’re certainly going to miss our seven seniors, they provide a lot to this team and it’s going to be difficult to replace that group.”

Marshall was able to take an early advantage in Set 1, going up 6-2 before the Royals tied things at 9-9. The two teams then traded points over the next few possessions, with the Tigers retaking the lead at 16-15 on a Bria Morris kills. Looking for a push in the right direction, Marshall quickly gained momentum with a 5-0 run to take a 21-15 lead before ultimately taking the opening frame 25-19.

The Tigers began Set 2 on another strong run, building a 10-3 lead, only to see Watertown-Mayer cut it to a five-point game at 14-9. The Royals continued to whittle away at Marshall’s lead, drawing to within two at 20-18, but the Tigers claimed five of the final eight points of the frame to win 25-21 and take a 2-0 lead in the match.

Just like it did in the first two frames, Marshall’s ability to get out to a solid advantage continued in Set 3, as it raced to a 7-3 lead on a Jordyn Hilgemann ace before four straight kills from the junior outside hitter pushed the Tigers lead to 17-10. Marshall then went up by double digits 21-11 before closing the match with a 25-15 third-set win.

Hilgemann led the way for Marshall with 15 kills while Emily Meier added 12 and Logan Sherman and Morris each had eight. Rachel Schwarz led in set assists with 28 while Sherman added 15.

Defensively, Mia Schnaible led in digs with 22 while Kate Bucher added 16 and Hilgemann had 13.

Marshall ends its season with a 30-7 record. The match was also the final one for seven Tiger seniors – Sherman, Bucher, Paige Andries, Morris, Keziah Knudson, Schnaible and Schwarz.

Westby said the work ethic and commitment from their senior players was unparalleled and it’s going to be tough to replace them.

“A number of them have been starters for three years, so they’ve been at this tournament for three years,” Westby said. “I think that experience that they had helped them come through, but everything that they’ve done throughout the summer and in the spring, they’ve been extremely committed and you don’t get to do these sorts of things unless you have what it takes and this group of seniors have done that. I couldn’t ask for more and it’s going to be tough to replace this group.”

Morris added that it was special to be able to play with her best friends each day.

“It’s awesome,” Morris said. “Just getting to play with your best friends every day, competing every day, it just makes it a lot more fun and more enjoyable to play with people that you’re best friends with.”

Sherman said she’s going to miss seeing her teammates after stepping onto the court with them for four years.

“This group we’ve been together for so long and it’s going to be hard not seeing them every day at practice and playing with them,” Sherman said. “I’m going to miss it a lot.”

Sherman was also named to the Class AA All-Tournament team.

Going into next year, Westby said they were able to accomplish a lot of great things this season and knows while it’ll be hard to say goodbye to the seniors, they still have a lot to look forward to with the returning players.

“It was a great season, we accomplished a lot. We got another conference championship, another section championship, 30-win season, I think Marshall’s had four or five of those in their history so anytime you can win 30 matches in a season, especially considering the schedule that we play, I think you’ve done something,” Westby said. “I couldn’t be prouder of this group; it’s always difficult to say goodbye to a group of seniors and we’re certainly looking forward to the kids coming back.”

As for advice to their teammates, Sherman said to soak it all in and not take anything for granted.

“They always say it goes by fast and it really does, so just enjoy every bit of it and not take any of it for granted,” she said.

Marshall 3, Watertown-Mayer 0

Watertown-Mayer 19 21 15 – 0

Marshall 25 25 25 – 3

Serving (good-att-ace): Marshall (Sherman 4-6; Bucher 7-7; Meier 12-12-1; Hilgemann 15-17-2; Schnaible 9-10; Schwarz 20-22); W-M (P. Thibault 11-11-2; L. Burns 9-9; E. Burns 11-11-1).

Kills: Marshall 47 (Hilgemann 15; Meier 12; Sherman, Morris 8; Knudson 3; Schnaible 1); W-M 23 (Olson 8; P. Thibault 7; Unglaub 4).

Digs: Marshall 64 (Schnaible 22; Bucher 16; Hilgemann 13; Schwarz, Sherman 5; Meier, Knudson, Morris 1); W-M 46 (K. Thibault 18; P. Thibault 12).

Set Assists: Marshall 46 (Schwarz 28; Sherman 15; Schnaible 3); W-M 22 (Ernhart 14; Foley 7; K. Thibault 1).

Blocks: Marshall 5 (Sherman 4 assists; Gannott 2 assists; Meier 3 assists; Hilgemann 1 assist); W-M 1 (P. Thibault, Olson 1 assist).