Photo by Sam Thiel Marshall’s Randi Wendorff pushes the ball over a pair of St. Paul Highland Park defenders during their Class AAA Tournament match on Wednesday at Xcel Energy Center. Marshall defeated Highland Park 3-0.

ST. PAUL — It was a battle of experience vs. inexperience between the Marshall and St. Paul Highland Park volleyball teams on Wednesday evening in the Class AAA quarterfinals. Marshall, the top seed in the bracket, was making its 30th state appearance while the Scots, who got a random draw, were making their first trip since 1977 and – for some of their players – it was the first time they stepped foot into the Xcel Energy Center.

After a slow start, Marshall was able to command the pace the rest of the way, earning a 3-0 (25-14, 25-4, 25-10) victory.

Marshall coach Dan Westby said it’s great to be back at state after not being able to have either a section or state tournament last year due to COVID. He added while Marshall brings a lot of veteran leadership to the floor, they only have one player with previous state tournament experience in Tessa Gannott and felt it took them a bit to find their rhythm.

“It’s great to be back. We’ve always talked as coaches and we just feel that every season and I don’t consider this to be pressure, but I think every season should end at the state tournament in some shape or form,” Westby said. “We’ve been so spoiled over the years because we’ve always had kids with state tournament experience and this year, without having a section or state tournament a year ago, this year we have one player with experience returning and that’s Tessa. I felt that showed early in Set 1, it took us awhile to get going, but once our kids got comfortable out there, we tried to convey the message that it’s still volleyball and it doesn’t matter where you’re playing it, it’s still volleyball. I thought our kids kind of settled in and took care of business after a slow start.”

Marshall held a slim 3-2 lead in the opening set and both teams traded points before a kill by Gannott made it 8-5. MHS then went on a 6-1 run, as an attack error by Highland Park pushed Marshall’s advantage to 14-6. The two sides continued to trade points the rest of the way, but Marshall maintained its lead and took Set 1, 25-14.

The second set was all Marshall. MHS quickly jumped out to a 9-3 lead thanks to a kill by Randi Wendorff and a pair of service aces from Leah Jones. That advantage grew larger with each serve, with Marshall taking a double-digit lead at 13-3 before increasing it to 18-3 to highlight a 9-0 run. The Scots would only score one point the rest of the frame, as Marshall claimed Set 2, 25-4 and a 2-0 lead in the match.

Senior Maysa Gillingham said they were able to spread the floor evenly throughout the second set and got into a groove on the offensive end.

“I feel like it was an even spread, I think everyone got into their groove and got used to first of all just where we were playing,” Gillingham said. “We have a few players who haven’t played anywhere but a high school gym but I think we settled in and found our groove.”

Set 3 saw Highland Park gain an early advantage at 4-2, but Marshall responded to tie things up at 5-5. MHS then used a 6-1 run to create separation, with an attack error by the Scots giving Marshall an 11-6 lead before Brooke Andries connected on a kill to push the advantage to 17-8. MHS never looked back, outscoring Highland Park 8-2 the rest of the way for a 25-10 victory to earn the sweep.

Wendorff led Marshall with 11 kills while Gannott added nine and Jones recorded six. Jones led in digs with 16 while Caitlyn Christenson added 10 and Megan Wegner had nine. Gillingham led in set assists with 28.

Gannott added their middles were active throughout the match which helped draw attention away from their outside hitters and allow them to have clean swings.

“I think our middles were super active and that really helped pull blocks so the pin hitters could get some work done,” Gannott said.

Up next

Marshall (31-2) will face No. 5 seed Grand Rapids in the semifinals on Friday at 5 p.m.

Marshall 3, St. Paul Highland Park 0

St. Paul Highland Park 14 4 10

Marshall 25 25 25

Kills: Marshall (Wendorff 11; Gannott 9; Jones 6; Andries 5; Ariasola 4; Gillingham 3; Christenson, Riess 1).

Digs: Marshall (Jones 16; Christenson 10; Wegner 9; Gillingham 8; Hoover, Gannott, Ariasola 3; Steinbach 2).

Set Assists: Marshall (Gillingham 28; Christenson, Jones, Wegner 2; Ariasola 1).

Serving (aces): Marshall (Jones 24-25 (2); Christenson 13-13 (1); Ariasola 6-7 (2)).