Marshall 3, Luverne 0

LUVERNE — Reese Drake was unstoppable at the net for the Marshall volleyball team on Thursday night, notching 20 kills as the No. 2 Tigers toppled Luverne 25-10, 25-18, 25-7.

The performance gave Drake double-digit kills for the second consecutive game after she also tallied 10 in a straight-sets win over Worthington on Tuesday. Adding support in Thursday’s win, Laurel Ryks contributed eight kills while Avery Fahl added another seven.

Kezlyn Pinckney had another big night in the back row for Marshall with 16 digs, doubling her total from the previous game. Fahl and Kyah Pinckney also recorded 12 and nine digs respectively.

Audree Larson headed the Tigers’ defensive front row with two blocks while Fahl, Drake and Ryks each added one.

Fahl and Gillingham once again split set assists fairly evenly, with Fahl tallying 15 on the night and Gillingham finishing with 14.

Kezlyn Pinckney served up three aces on 18 attempts from the line while Drake and Gillingham added another two and one respectively.

Marshall, now on a four-match win streak, cracks double-digit wins at 10-2 on the season with the victory. It will return to its home court on Monday when it hosts Mankato West (7-2) at 7:15 p.m. The Scarlets have won five consecutive games since it lost to Class 4A Roseville and Class 2A No. 6 Southwest Christian on Sept. 7 in Shakopee. 

Minneota 3, KMS 0

KERKHOVEN — Five Vikings finished with six or more kills on Thursday night as the No. 3 Minneota volleyball team swept Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 25-9, 25-10, 25-17.

Nevaeh Hennen and Libby Sussner got all of the Minneota hitters involved, recording 22 and 20 set assists respectively on the night. Elivia Faris led the hitters with 16 kills, followed by Sarah Gruenes and Eden Meagher with eight and seven kills and Jaylyn Coequyt and Natalie Ratajczak with six each.

Leah Coequyt had another big blocking night for the Vikings. After finishing with four when the Vikings swept Dawson-Boyd on Tuesday to snap a four-match skid, Coequyt tied Fairs with a game-high two blocks on Thursday. 

In the back row, Abby Rolbiecki tallied 15 assists on the night while Hennen and Autumn Anderson contributed another eight and seven.

Anderson also led the Vikings at the service line with four aces on the night.

Minneota (6-4) will get back to the Viking Gym on Tuesday when it hosts Lac qui Parle Valley at 7:15 p.m. The Eagles are 1-4 at the time of print with their lone victory coming against KMS, a team that is now 0-9 on the season.

Lakeview 3, Dawson-Boyd 0

DAWSON — Taylor Hinz led the Lakeview volleyball team to victory on Thursday night with an 11-kill performance against Dawson-Boyd, helping the Lakers to a 25-20, 25-23, 25-13 win.

In addition to Hinz, Jaela Schmidt and Aubreigh Rausch added another six and five kills respectively.

In the back row, Jersey Stensrud led the team with nine digs followed by eight from Teegan Fiene and seven from Rausch.

Natyah Ritter led the Blackjacks with eight digs on the day while, offensively, Addy Tufto and Reese Johnson recorded seven and six kills respectively. Bailey Bothun also had 12 set assists for the Blackjacks while Matti Gruewell contributed another eight.

For the Lakers, Rausch and Aubrey Nething each finished with 10 set assists.

Lakeview (4-6) will make its way back to Cottonwood to host KMS (0-9) on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m. 

Dawson-Boyd (0-8) will face another tough challenge on Tuesday when it goes on the road to face No. 4 Canby (7-2) at 7:15 p.m.

RTR 3, MLAC 1

MOUNTAIN LAKE — Dru Ellefson stepped up for the No. 5 Russell-Tyler-Ruthton volleyball team when starting setter Brezlyn Buchert went down with an injury in the first set of a Thursday night match against Mountain Lake Area-Comfrey. With Buchert remaining out until the fourth set, Ellefson switched over from the hitting role into the setting role and tallied 16 set assists, eight kills and five service aces in a 25-18, 25-9, 21-25, 25-11 win.

Even while missing the middle two sets, Buchert finished the night with 21 set assists for the Knights. On the finishing end of the points, Ava Karbo led the team with 13 kills while Laken Baartman added another 10. Karbo also had a pair of blocks while Baartman and Brynn Borresen each added one.

Avery Schreurs had a stellar defensive performance with 29 digs for the Knights while Baartman and Sarah Thooft added 12 and 10 respectively.

Russell-Tyler-Ruthton (7-4) will look to grab its third consecutive win on Tuesday when it hosts Adrian-Ellsworth (3-3) at 7:15 p.m.

Canby 3, CMC 0

PRINSBURG — Despite two sets going beyond 25 points, the No. 4 Canby volleyball team managed to hold off Central Minnesota Christian on Thursday night for a straight-sets victory. In a battle of endurance, the Lancers claimed the first set 25-20, held on for a win in a 30-28 marathon in set 2 and slammed the door on the win with a 26-24 victory in the clincher.

Karlie Wollum led the Lancers on the night with 14 kills and 13 digs, the former being an outright team-high and the latter tying libero Aliyah Rangaard for a team-high.

Also contributing offensively, Emily Nelson added 10 kills, Brynn Kockelman recorded another seven and Haley Noyes finished with six. Nelson and Kockelman also logged 20 and 14 set assists respectively.

Grace Hansen and Noyes led the team’s front defensive line with two blocks each while Kockelman and Nelson also contributed eight and seven digs respectively.

Hansen served up four aces in the win while Nelson added another two.

Canby improves to 7-2 with the win and will look to keep the momentum rolling when it hosts the 0-8 Dawson-Boyd Blackjacks on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.

WWG 3, A/E 1

ADRIAN — Natalie Wahl’s 15-kill, 15-dig performance helped the Westbrook-Walnut Grove volleyball team outlast the Adrian-Ellsworth Dragons on Thursday night in a tightly contested 25-15, 27-29, 25-22, 25-22 win.

In addition to Wahl, Carlie Ross and Liv Locke also made a defensive difference with 17 digs each. In the front row, Riley Parker and Leah Carter contributed eight kills each.

Hadley Jenniges and Myah Maznio were both effective in the setter role with 20 and 18 set assists respectively while Carter contributed three total blocks in the match.

WWG improves to 7-2 with the win and will next host Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda (3-7) on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Wabasso 3, GFW 0

WINTHROP — The No. 8 Wabasso volleyball team continued its perfect start to the season with a 25-13, 25-10, 25-21 sweep of Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop on Thursday to bring itself within one victory of cracking double digits.

Sara Calrson and Alivia Olson led the Rabbits on Thursday night with 30 set assists and 17 kills respectively.

Camryn Irlbeck also added seven kills and tied Carlson with a team-high three solo blocks.

Olson led the back row with eight digs and tied Kenly Guetter and Carlson with two service aces. Leah Mathiowetz also added three service aces while Audrey Johnson contributed six digs.

Wabasso improves to 9-0 with the win and will look to keep its momentum rolling when it hosts Class 2A No. 10 Redwood Valley (5-2) on Saturday at 9 a.m. to kick off its home tournament. The Rabbits are also slated to take on Southwest Minnesota Christian (5-5) and MACCRAY (5-2).

MACCRAY 3, TMB 1

CLARA CITY — The Tracy-Milroy-Balaton volleyball team couldn’t pull out a win on Thursday night, dropping 25-22, 25-18, 22-25, 25-21 to MACCRAY for its third loss in its last four matches.

Stats were not available upon request at the time of publication.

Tracy-Milroy-Balaton drops to 3-7 on the season and will look to get back in the win column when it heads out on the road for a match against Ortonville (0-3) on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.

YME 3, Ortonville 2

ORTONVILLE — The Yellow Medicine East volleyball team snapped its seven-match skid on Thursday night with a 25-23, 25-15, 25-23 win over Ortonville.

Alana Almich and Abbey Bones were the team’s leading hitters with 10 and eight kills respectively while Bailey Mortenson added a solo block. As a team, the Sting combined for eight service aces.

Yellow Medicine East improves to 2-8 on the season with the win and will host Central Minnesota Christian (4-2) in Granite Falls on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.

MCC 3, HLOF 1

SLAYTON — Emmi Peltola put together a defensive masterclass on Thursday night to help the Murray County Central volleyball team pick up its third straight win, 25-23, 19-25, 25-19, 25-23, against Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda.

Peltola finished the night with 31 digs while Thea Schneider and Kate Blankenship contributed 18 and 11 respectively. Peyton DeGreef also added nine digs while tying Calleigh Doeden with a team-leading two blocks.

Schneider and Miller tallied 18 set assists each on the night while Schneider and DeGreef led the team in kills with 12 and 10 respectively.

Peltola served up three aces on the night while Schneider and Miller each logged another two.

MCC moves above .500 on the season with the win, now sitting at 3-2, and will look to pick up its fourth consecutive win when it hosts Mountain Lake Area-Comfrey (2-7-1) on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.

RRC 3, HBC 0

HILLS — Natasha Erickson distributed 35 set assists on Thursday night to lead the Red Rock Central volleyball team to a straight-sets win over Hills-Beaver Creek.

Along with Erickson, Tia Donkersloot had another big game for the Falcons with 14 kills and nine total blocks. Abby Evans also added nine kills and three service aces on 23 error-free serves while Ally Linder added another four blocks.

In the back row, Maia Scheffler recorded 14 digs while Keena Kosel contributed another eight.

Red Rock Central improves to 2-3 with the win and will take on Sleepy Eye (6-3-1) on Monday at 7 p.m.