Photo by Jake McNeill: Marshall's Julia Fahl (12) goes to high-five teammate Kezlyn Pinckney after recording a kill late in the fourth set of a non-conference volleyball match against Sioux Falls Christian on Thursday.

MARSHALL — The resiliency of the Marshall volleyball team shines through in its non-conference match against Sioux Falls Christian (S.D.) on Thursday night. The Tigers dropped a set for the first time in five matches and just the third time all season to start the match, falling 29-27, but Marshall responded by winning each of the next three consecutive games by scores of 25-17, 25-16 and 25-15 to secure the comeback victory in four sets.

Marshall and Sioux Falls Christian went back and forth with the lead early in the fourth set, neither team being able to gain an inch. With the match tied at 6 points apiece, however, a Reese Drake kill and a Trinity Brownlee service ace gave the Tigers an inch of breathing room.

Nora Holmgren combined with Laurel Ryks for a block to prompt a Charger timeout, trailing 11-7, and Holmgren went up for an ace block on the first point after the huddle to keep momentum rolling in favor of Marshall.

Holmgren was a defensive force up front all night, tying Avery Fahl with a team-leading three ace blocks while Ryks added another two. Holmgren also consistently got a good tip or forced Sioux Falls hitters to alter their shots with her timing and positioning to make an impact at the net.

“We’ve talked about this as a coaching staff, it’s been fun to watch [Holmgren] grow in front of our eyes,” Marshall head coach Dan Westby said. “Just throughout the course of the season, she’s just continued to get better.”

The Chargers never recovered as Marshall extended its lead to 15-8 before Sioux Falls Christian broke up the run with 3 unanswered points. Still, a service ace from Kezlyn Pinckney helped get the Tigers back on track and kills from Julia Fahl and Drake put the finishing touches on the 25-15 clinching set.

The Tigers led 22-19 in the first set when the Chargers started to encroach on Marshall’s cushion. A series of Tiger miscues resulted in a 4-0 go-ahead run for Sioux Falls Christian, prompting Marshall to call a timeout trailing 23-22.

Coming out of the huddle, Marshall continued to battle. A Charger service error tied the match before Sioux Falls Christian came back with a kill, but Drake responded with a kill and one of her five service aces in the match to give the Tigers a 25-24 lead.

The two teams continued to trade barbs, with kills from Avery Fahl and Drake keeping the Tigers afloat. Yet, a blocking error and a hitting error against Marshall eventually gave the Chargers a 29-27 win.

Struggles on the serve receive and passing resulted in a slow start for Marshall. The Chargers scored 4 of the match’s first 5 points and got off to a 7-2 lead before Marshall called its first timeout.

“We don’t [call timeouts often], that’s the way we like it, but we just needed to clean up some errors,” Westby said, adding that those errors were among the deciding factors in the set. “We made a couple of unforced errors, and this is a good team we played tonight… You can’t just help them out at all, you’ve got to take care of the ball when it’s on your side of the net.”

After the break, Marshall snapped back into form. Avery and Julia Fahl and Drake each logged a kill while Holmgren came up with a block to trim the deficit to a point. The Tiger run was broken up by a hit into the net, but Julia Fahl immediately answered with a spike so hard that it nearly bounced into the second-level track after landing in bounds for a kill.

Julia Fahl led the Tigers with 15 kills in the match, followed by 14 from Reese Drake and 13 from Avery Fahl.

Trailing 9-7, Drake hit for back-to-back kills to tie the match. A Sioux Falls hit beyond the back line gave Marshall its first lead and Drake followed up with her third kill in 4 points to make the score 11-9. The Chargers went on to call a timeout when a kill from Ryks brought the Marshall advantage to 3 points.

Marshall’s edge teetered around three points until Sioux Falls Christian eventually retied the set at 15-all. The Tigers recovered to re-extend their lead to 3 points, but the Chargers battled right back to eventually win the set.

“You never want to lose a set, but I think that was a bit of a wake-up call for them [Marshall] there,” Westby said. “To their credit, they bounced back and… never let [Sioux Falls Christian] get back in the 20s after that.”

Like the first set, the Chargers started the second set strong with a service ace and a kill. Yet, a Charger service error and a kill from Drake quickly tied the game back up.

The two teams went back and forth, maintaining a narrow margin between them. It wasn’t until Avery and Julia Fahl came up with consecutive kills and Sioux Falls Christian committed a digging error that the Tigers started to pull away, extending the lead to 7-4.

A kill from Drake and a block from Avery Fahl gave Marshall its first 4-point lead of the set at 13-9. Still, the Tigers continued to build momentum with a Julia Fahl kill for the first point out of the huddle.

Sioux Falls Christian came up with a kill and benefited from a Marshall attacking error to trim the deficit to 2 points. Yet, Holmgren came up with a kill and combined with Drake for a block to bring the score to 18-14.

Marshall continued to rally, with a kill from Drake, a block from Halle DeVos and Holmgren, and a trio of Charger attacking errors giving Marshall a 22-14 lead with a 5-0 run, eventually leading to the 25-17 win.

Drake logged a team-high 18 digs in the match while Avery Fahl and Pinckney contributed 14 and 12, respectively.

Hot starts for the Chargers continued to be a trend as Sioux Falls claimed each of the first 3 points of the third game before Marshall woke up.

Avery Fahl got the ball rolling for Marshall with a kill, and a Ryks kill and two service aces from Drake quickly flipped the script for a 4-3 Marshall lead. Another hitting error from the Chargers, a block from the Fahls and a third Drake ace made the score 8-3 when the Chargers called a timeout.

Sioux Falls Christian scored the first point out of the huddle, but Avery Fahl answered right back with a kill. The Chargers, undeterred, continued to eat away at the Tigers’ lead until it was down to a point. Yet, Holmgren came up with a block and Brooke Gillingham served up an ace to keep Marshall’s lead at 4 points.

Gillingham and Avery Fahl split setting duties evenly on the night, resulting in 22 set assists for Gillingham and 21 for Fahl.

The Chargers again trimmed Marshall’s lead down to just a point before Marshall heated up once again. Ryks started the momentum shift with a kill and Drake followed up with an ace before the Chargers called their final timeout, trailing 19-15.

Still, the Tigers continued to pull away as Julia Fahl racked up back-to-back kills to extend the lead to 8 before Marshall settled for the 25-16 win.

Marshall improves to 22-1 on the season with the win. The Tigers next head to Lakeville North for a tournament tonight starting at 5 p.m. The Tigers open with New Prague (12-9) and Moorhead (7-10) today before closing pool play against Prior Lake (13-8) to start Saturday’s matches at 10:15 a.m.

“It’s going to be a lot of the same in terms of what we saw tonight,” Westby said of the Lakeville North Tournament. “We’re going to have to be ready to go. If you take a play or two off, you’re going to get beat, so it’s going to be good for us.”