No. 1AAA Marshall 3, No. 4AA Belle Plaine 0

BELLE PLAINE — A strong blocking effort up front helped the Marshall volleyball team continue its perfect start to the season with its sixth consecutive sweep, this time against Belle Plaine in Big South Conference play. Class 3A’s top-ranked Marshall Tigers picked up a 25-9 win in the first set against Class 2A’s No. 4 Belle Plaine Tigers, and Marshall never let its foot off the gas, winning the second set 25-13 and the third 25-9.

Avery Fahl led Marshall’s blocking effort with a pair of ace blocks, while Reese Drake, Nora Holmgren and Julia Fahl each added another.

The Fahls and Drake also made a strong offensive impact. Avery and Julia Fahl tallied 13 and 10 kills respectively, along with 18 set assists for Avery, while Drake finished with 10 kills.

Drake also tied Brooke Gillingham with a team-high two service aces. Gillingham finished the match as Marshall’s leading setter with 20 assists.

Libero Kezlyn Pinckney headed Marshall’s defensive back-row efforts with 14 digs, while Drake and Avery Fahl chipped in 10 and seven, respectively.

Marshall (6-0) hosts the Southwest Challenge volleyball tournament this weekend, with 10 teams ranked in the latest Minnesota Volleyball Coaches Association poll participating in the event. The Tigers will open the two-day event with a match against Fergus Falls (2-1) tonight at 5 p.m.

CMC 3, WWG 2

WESTBROOK — A pair of masterful defensive performances from Hadley Jenniges and Carlie Ross still left the Westbrook-Walnut Grove volleyball team shy of its third straight win to start the season on Thursday night. The Chargers hosted Central Minnesota Christian for a non-conference matchup on Thursday, but CMC held on for the five-set victory.

The Bluejays claimed the first set 25-21 but the Chargers responded well with 25-13 and 25-18 wins in the next two games. In a back-and-forth fourth game, WWG fell just shy of clinching the match and lost 26-24 in the extended set, and CMC claimed the tiebreaker 15-11.

Ross and Jenniges played their part defensively with 32 and 31 digs, respectively. Ross also led all hitters with 13 kills, was 25 of 26 from the service line with four aces, and came up with two ace blocks and five block assists. Jenniges, meanwhile, tallied 26 set assists in the match.

The Chargers’ front wall was a brick wall on the night. Myah Maznio and Sydney Foster each came up with a pair of ace blocks, as well as five block assists for Maznio and two for Foster. Leah Carter also tallied five block assists.

Natasha Wahl and Carter contributed eight and seven kills respectively, while Foster served up a trio of aces.

Westbrook-Walnut Grove (2-1) next heads to Cottonwood for the Lakeview Tournament on Saturday. The Chargers will take on the hosting Lakers (1-3) at 9 a.m., followed by a match against Morris Area-Chokio-Alberta (3-0) at 10:30 a.m. and Windom (4-0) at noon.

New Ulm Cathedral 3,

No. 9A Wabasso 0

WABASSO — Hitting struggles plagued the ninth-ranked Wabasso volleyball team in its Tomahawk Conference opener against New Ulm Cathedral on Thursday. The Greyhounds took game 1 by a score of 25-18 and didn’t let up from there, completing the sweep with 25-19 and 25-13 wins.

Sara Carlson led Wabasso on the night with 16 assists and three service aces. The Rabbits also got a strong performance from Audrey Johnson at Libero with 12 digs and a service ace.

Carly Fenger and Camryn Irlbeck led the team’s hitters with six and five kills, respectively, as well as a solo block and three block assists for Irlbeck, while Leah Mathiowetz served up another pair of aces.

Wabasso (2-1) next heads out for a road matchup against New London-Spicer (5-2) on Monday at 7 p.m.

MCC 3,

Dawson-Boyd 0

DAWSON — Kate Blankenship tallied 15 digs on Thursday night to lead the Murray County Central volleyball team to a straight-sets non-conference win over Dawson-Boyd. The Rebels claimed game 1 25-20, and continued to get stronger with 25-16 and 25-14 wins in the ensuing sets.

In addition to Blankenship, Ava Deacon tallied nine digs in the match while Erynn Rohrer made a front-row defensive impact with three blocks. Peyton DeGreef and Suttyn Schryver each also tallied a pair of blocks in the match.

Blankenship and Schryver also led MCC offensively with eight and seven kills, respectively, while Addy Dierks and Rohrer each tallied 14 set assists.

Kate Gruwell led Dawson-Boyd with 12 digs in the match while Kadyn Perkins led the team offensively with 10 kills. Claire Stratmoen finished the match with 11 set assists.

Murray County Central (2-1) takes on Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda (2-0) for its next match in Fulda on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.

Dawson-Boyd (0-4) remains on its home court to host Hancock (1-2) on Monday at 7:15 p.m.

Edgerton 1

COTTONWOOD — The Lakeview volleyball team earned its first win of the season on Thursday, taking down Edgerton in four set, 25-20, 25-18, 23-25, 25-17.

Stats were unavailable upon request at the time of publication.

Lakeview (1-3) hosts a home tournament on Saturday, with matches slated against Westbrook-Walnut Grove (2-0) at 9 a.m., Windom (4-0) at 10:30 a.m. and Morris Area-Chokio-Alberta (3-0) at noon.