Photos by Samantha Davis. The Marshall volleyball players and coaches huddle together after being named the 2024 state Class AAA runners-up Saturday evening at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. The Tigers fell to Alexandria, and finishes its season 28-7 overall. Below: The Marshall volleyball team groups together after receiving their second place medals and plaque.

ST. PAUL — The No. 2 Marshall volleyball team was put in unfamiliar territory after being down two sets in the Class AAA state championship match at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul Saturday evening. Despite a fight back in the third and neither team trailing by more than six points the entire night, the Tigers fell to a triumphing fifth-seed Alexandria Area team 3-1 in sets of 23-25, 22-25, 25-21 and 22-25 to be named state runners-up.

“Our kids fought, battled, scratched and clawed,” Marshall head coach Dan Westby said. “I was really proud of our team, and the way we scratched and got back into set three.”

Marshall has won the last three state titles, and was going for a fourth and the program’s 10th overall. The loss marks the first time Marshall has fallen to a non-Class 4A team since Sept. 11, 2021 after a 2-1 defeat from Minneota in the Southwest Minnesota Challenge tournament.

“I talked to a couple coaches prior to the tournament, and I said, ‘We should all be concerned with Alexandria,'” Westby said. “The fact that they won the state championship, it isn’t a shock. Certainly we thought we had what we needed to win, but they were just too much for us.”

Both Alexandria and Marshall have swept its way through the tournament to get to the championship and have not lost a set prior to Saturday. After being given the fifth seed, Alexandria took down No. 1 Delano in the semifinals, handing them their first loss of the year.

There were 36 tied scores and 19 lead changes in the championship. Although Alexandria had 27 errors between receives, blocks and from the service line compared to Marshall’s six, a difference maker was the Cardinals’ 14 blocks and 24 blocks assists, to the Tigers’ four blocks and eight assists.

“They made everything difficult for us,” Westby said. “The hard part, and this was certainly a concern we had coming in, was we were playing from behind too much, and you can’t afford to do that against a team like this.”

Alexandria made it known early on it was seeking revenge from when the two met a month ago on Oct. 10 and Marshall walked away with a 25-20, 25-11 and 25-12 sweep.

The difference from now and then, was the return of two starters in Addison Rossum and Hadley Thull for Alexandria who were out for several weeks with injuries, and are powerhouses in the Cardinals offensive rotations.

“They are a different team [now],” Westby said. “They’re hitting it on all cylinders right now.”

The Tigers and Cardinals were locked in with one another right from the start of the first set, with neither team allowing more than a 3-point edge.

Alexandria was up 9-6 after a Marshall communication error, but the Tigers immediately caught up behind Laurel Ryks and Audree Larson kills, and an ace from Ryks as well.

The rest of the set was point-for-point, with nearly identical hitting percentages. Overall, Marshall finished with a .117 hitting percentage to the Cardinals’ .229.

Alexandria went on a 5-0 run from three kills, an ace and a block for a 23-19 advantage when Westby called his second timeout.

Cutting into a 24-22 deficit with a kill from Reese Drake and a Cardinals error, it wasn’t enough as Alexandria took the set after a kill.

Alexandria ended the first set with a .204 hitting percentage to Marshall’s .167, and had 19 points just from kills compared to the Tigers 10.

This marked the first set Marshall had dropped in the state tournament since the semifinals against Detroit Lakes last year on Nov. 10.

To start the second set, Halle DeVos served an ace to play into a Tiger 7-2 run to hold a 3-point lead. Ryks and Drake continued to find the ball from either Brooke Gillingham or Avery Fahl for kills.

Fahl led with 17 set assists on the night with her eight kills, followed by 16 from Gillingham. Drake led Marshall with a 20-20 performance between kills and digs.

Finding its rhythm while the Cardinals continued to chip away, Marshall found itself up five points after two consecutive aces from Gillingham and a Drake kill.

Gillingham had a game-high six serving aces with her six kills.

In championship game fashion, Alexandria grabbed those points right back on a run of its own.

“I think even when it was close, we needed to still be aggressive on our attacks and not play timid,” Drake said. “If we play timidly, we would give them an easy ball and come back up. We just said [during huddles] to keep playing aggressive.”

After the Cardinals tied it up at 18, Larson could be heard in the huddle saying, “It’s alright, we’re alright,” to regroup her teammates.

Alexandria was again aggressive at the front of the net, and three straight blocks forced Westby to call a timeout with a 21-19 trail.

Although three more kills from Drake, Alexandria finished the set behind a kill and block and put Marshall in a tough situation with being down two sets.

Marshall needed to find answers to Alexandria’s Thull, who already had 17 kills by the middle of set three.

Gillingham again served a pair of aces and hit a kill as the Tigers tied the set at 10 after being down by four.

In another back and forth scenario, a kill each from Drake, Ryks and Kezlyn Pinckney gave Marshall the 19-18 advantage. But, the point lead was taken back by the Cardinals with another kill from Thull, who ended with a game-high 23.

Two Drake kills brought the Tigers back up 23-21.

When defense mattered most, it came together as Marshall took the third following a Cardinal attacking error and Drake kill. The last two possessions alone had several diving digs to keep the ball alive by the Tigers’ back row.

Supporting Drake, Pinckney also logged 18 kills followed by Fahl with 15 and Gillingham’s 10.

“I thought our kids really defended hard. Were able to dig up a few bowls, especially in sets three and four,” Westby said. “Against a team like Alexandria, if you do that, then you can maybe get them to second guess themselves a little bit.”

After a 4-1 deficit to start the fourth set, two kills by Fahl, one from DeVos and two Alexandria errors gave Marshall the momentum it needed for a 6-4 lead.

But, that same momentum was reciprocated from the Cardinals who were able to grab a 4-point lead during a 9-4 run.

“I thought we got a little predictable there in terms of where we’re setting the ball, and that made it a little bit easier for them,” Westby said. “Whether that was the ball being set too high or or too close to the net.”

Alexandria’s pressure on Marshall didn’t slow down, and grew its lead to 19-13 after a string of three kills.

Following a timeout, Fahl and Ryks blocked together along with two Cardinal errors to help cut the deficit to two points.

At a 22-22 tie, Alexandria ended the night with a pair of kills and a block.

Beyond just playing one another, there’s a deeper connection between Marshall and Alexandria head coach Mary Byrne.

Byrn is a 1981 Marshall High School graduate, who played on the 1979 AA volleyball runners-up team. She then coached the Tigers in 1991 and 1992, where they finished as runners-up in the ’92 state run.

“It’s a funny story. A couple weeks ago, once we qualified for the state tournament, I dug out my 1979 sweatshirt from that state tournament,” Byrn said. “I wore it to practice and it was like, ‘We’re doing this. Let’s go.'”

Fahl, Drake and Gillingham were all named to the State All-Tournament team.

Through the three matches, Fahl finished with 24 kills, 54 set assists and 32 digs. Drake logged 52 kills and 44 digs, while Gillingham had 19 kills, 52 assists and 23 digs.

The Tigers’ two seniors Ali Pederson and Larson will be remembered for their generous contributions to the team.

“They’re both just very selfless people,” Gillingham said. “They’re kind, and they only want the best for everybody else in the team … We’re going to miss that next year, their selflessness.”

Despite the loss this year, Marshall holds the Minnesota record for most state championships for a program with nine, all of which have been won since 2004 under Westby. The Tigers finish its 2024 season 28-7 overall, and will bring back a large number of returners.

“They will be reminded of this often,” Westby said. “We’re going to have to make some strides if we want to get back to this point next year, without a question.”