Photo by Jake McNeill: The Marshall volleyball team celebrates its eighth consecutive Section 2AAA championship in front of its student section after defeating Willmar at Redwood Valley High School on Wednesday night.

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REDWOOD FALLS — Reese Drake’s 20 kills and Avery Fahl’s five blocks set the tone for the top-seeded volleyball team in its Section 2AAA championship rematch against No. 2 Willmar. The Tigers overcame a late deficit with 8 unanswered points for a 25-21 win, and came away with 25-15 wins in each of the next two sets to secure a sweep and their eighth consecutive section title.

The two teams met in last year’s section final, with Willmar claiming the first set before Marshall rattled off three consecutive wins to return to state.

Marshall called a rare timeout trailing 20-17 in the first set, and a block from Michigan State-commit Ellery DeBoer gave the Cardinals a 4-point cushion. That was the last set Willmar scored in the frame, however, as Marshall closed the set on an 8-0 run to complete the comeback.

A diving save from Julia Fahl helped start a Marshall run, eventually setting up an Avery Fahl kill on the point, and Avery combined with Halle DeVos on the next point to trim the deficit to 2.

Brooke hit a ball behind her head and looked as surprised as anyone to see it land for a kill, and back-to-back kills from Avery Fahl gave Marshall a 22-21 lead, its first since it led 15-12.

The Tigers’ momentum continued to flow from there, as a Willmar net violation, a Kezlyn Pinckney ace and a DeVos kill sealed the 25-21 win.

Drake finished the night with a match-high 20 kills while Avery Fahl added another seven. The two were also the team’s leaders in blocks, with Fahl tallying five blocks on the night and Drake adding another two. Julia Fahl and Nora Holmgren tallied five kills each.

Fahl also had a major back-row defensive impact, finishing tied with Pinckney for a team-leading 16 digs. Brooke Gillingham also added 15 digs, and Fahl and Gillingham finished with 16 and 12 set assists, respectively.

To start the match, Marshall scored 4 unanswered points, including an Avery Fahl block on the game’s opening point and a Reese Drake kill.

Willmar responded with 3 straight points of its own before Marshall pulled ahead with a 7-0 run, including a pair of kills from Drake and a series of Willmar attacking errors.

The Tigers continued to bolster their lead, holding a 15-10 advantage when the Cardinals started to surge back into the set.

A block started the Willmar run, and Brielle Ogdahl and Nora Mitteness each swung for a kill to trim the deficit to a pair of points. Isley Ripperger served up an ace to bring the Cardinals within a point, and DeBoer came up with a kill and a block to give the Cardinals their first lead at 16-15 before a Marshall back-row violation capped off the 7-0 run.

Marshall’s first-set momentum carried over into the second game of the night. The two teams traded errors to start the frame, but Drake and Avery and Julia Fahl came up with consecutive kills to build a 4-1 lead.

Willmar trimmed Marshall’s lead down to a point, 6-5, before Marshall started to pull back ahead. Drake and Holmgren came up with back-to-back kills to start a Marshall run, and then Holmgren added another before Drake came up with two in a row to make the score 11-5.

A hitting error interrupted the Marshall run, but a Drake kill and a Laurel Ryks block got the Tigers right back on schedule, eventually resulting in a Willmar timeout after a Pinckney ace and an Avery Fahl kill brought the score to 17-9.

Pinckney served her third ace of the night immediately after the timeout and the Tigers inched their way to the set victory from there, with a Gillingham ace and kills from Avery Fahl and Ryks giving Marshall a 25-15 win.

Pinckney finished the match with perfect 18 of 18 service.

Marshall and Willmar alternated points to start the third set before a Willmar attacking error, a Holmgren block and a pair of kills from Julia Fahl brought the score to 7-4. The Tigers continued to surge ahead when Holmgren combined for a pair of blocks with Avery Fahl and Drake, and Avery Fahl slammed home a kill to prompt Willmar to call a timeout trailing 10-4.

The Tigers’ lead hovered around 6 points until Avery Fahl caught fire late in the set, coming up with a pair of big blocks and a pair of kills down the stretch before Drake closed out the match with a kill and a block for a 25-15 win.

Marshall improves to 30-2 on the season with the win and now prepares to head to its eighth consecutive state tournament. The Tigers enter the tournament with the most state titles of any program in Minnesota, and are looking to become the first team to crack double digits by earning their 10th this season.

The Class AAA state tournament will be held at Grand Casino Arena — formerly known as the Xcel Energy Center — starting on Nov. 5. The quarterfinal matches are slated for 5 and 7 p.m., with seeding to be announced later in the week.