Photo by Samantha Davis. Junior outside and right side hitter Halle DeVos attacks over two opponents against Jackson County Central Thursday night at Marshall High School. The Tigers won in three sets and DeVos led the servicing line with four aces on the night.

MARSHALL — Keeping its successful stride going and doing what it does best in shutting out opponents in resilient fashion, the No. 2 Marshall girl’s volleyball team took down Jackson County Central Thursday night in three straight sets of 25-9, 25-11 and 25-14.   

The Tigers find success in getting several players involved to distribute playmaking duties. They did more of the same on Thursday as junior setter and middle blocker Avery Fahl grabbed a triple-double, junior outside hitter Reese Drake logged a double-double, junior setter Brooke Gillingham tallied 18 assists, and sophomore defensive specialist Kezlyn Pinckney had 12 digs.

“I thought we were pretty focused, came out and did what we needed to do early on,” Marshall head coach Dan Westby said. “Outside of a stretch in that third set where we just made a few too many errors, we were pretty clean tonight.”

Fahl recorded 12 kills, 17 assists and 10 digs and Drake followed with 11 kills and 12 digs. Junior outside and right-side hitter Halle DeVos had herself a night at the service line with four aces that came in crucial turning points, and a handful of kills. 

“Our setters really did a nice job of recognizing the fact that she [Devos] kind of had the hot hand and really gave her the ball a lot,” Westby said. “To her credit, she took care of things when she had those opportunities, and she also served pretty well. She had a good night from the service line.” 

Marshall has only had one match this season go to five sets, when they won in Watertown, S.D. on Sept. 3. All other victories, that have not been in tournament play, have been won in three-set sweeps. 

Tonight proved to be another clear-cut win for the squad from the jump, where it didn’t allow much room for error for JCC to capitalize on.

The first set started with a quick 4-4 tie, with each team serving a few aces between kills until Marshall was able to find its footing and jump to a 19-9 lead. It ultimately controlled the pace for the rest of the night. 

The Tigers kept the Huskies in single digits following a timeout and finished the opening set 25-9. 

Not letting its good momentum fade, Marshall came out with a 6-0 lead to begin the second set managed by both the front and back row making plays. 

JCC cut the deficit to 8-6 in an attempt to cause a halt in the Tigers’ offense, but it was able to rally back into a rhythm, including a pair of aces from Devos and Husky errors to finish off the set.  

JCC did everything it could to force a fourth set. Marshall had to tune into their resiliency in the third to come away with the sweep after a 9-8 start before Westby called a timeout. 

“We’ve been involved in some matches like that, where we pulled away late, and it would certainly be nice to pull away early,” Westby said. “But, take it anytime we can get it. It was nice to see our kids make a push at the end of all three sets.” 

The Tigers were able to quiet the Huskies back down following the reset with a full team effort at the net and in the back row to end the night in the third. 

There are now three regular season games left, and Marshall is on pace to make another deep postseason run, as their pattern upholds. The Tigers move to 16-4 overall and will next host Brookings, S.D., next Thursday, Oct. 3 for a 7:15 p.m. first serve.  

“We got a little bit of time off here and we’re just going to continue to come to practice every day, try and work hard to get better,” Westby said. “We’ve got some really tough matches staring us in the face here, so we’re going to have to, like I said, continue to work to get better.”