Photos by Jake McNeill: Marshall outside hitter Reese Drake (above) and libero Kezlyn Pinckney (below) make digs during the first set of the Tigers’ sweep of Mankato West in the Section 2AAA semifinals at Marshall High School on Friday.

MARSHALL — Service was key for the Marshall volleyball team in its Friday matchup against Mankato West in the Section 2AAA semifinals. The top-seeded Tigers served up a total of 14 aces in the match, coming from six different players, as Marshall swept the fourth-seeded Scarlets 25-11, 25-11, 25-8 to return to the section championship for the eighth consecutive season.

“Each year, we know that we have to put in the work to get to those places, so we’re just thankful to get the opportunity to play in that match,” Marshall outside hitter Reese Drake said after the match.

Wednesday’s section championship match against No. 2 Willmar is slated to be played at Redwood Valley High School. As such, the section semifinal match marked the final time for seniors Drake, Avery Fahl, Brooke Gillingham, Halle DeVos, Kyah Pinckney, Makia Radtke, Trinity Brownlee, and Brynn Webb to play on their home court.

“It’s bittersweet,” Drake said. “It’s coming to the end of the season, so being able to get all the seniors in there was super special.”

A dig error and a service ace gave the Scarlets the first 2 points of the match before a pair of kills from Reeser Drake and Julia Fahl tied the match. Mankato West regained the lead on a service error from Marshall, but Marshall quickly surged back ahead on an Avery Fahl kill and a Drake ace.

Drake finished the match with a team-leading five service aces, followed by three from Julia Fahl and another pair each from Kezlyn Pinckney and Avery Fahl. Gillingham and Brownlee each also served up aces on the night.

Leading 5-4, Marshall found its rhythm with a stretch of 5 unanswered points to gain some breathing room, capitalizing on kills from Nora Holmgren and Julia Fahl and an ace from Avery Fahl.

While a defensive miscommunication at the net ended the drought for Mankato, the Tigers put together another run of 5 straight points to continue growing their lead. Kills from DeVos, Avery Fahl and Drake prompted the Scarlets to call a timeout trailing 15-5.

Down the final stretch of the set, Drake continued to heat up with three kills and an ace in a span of 8 points before kills from Laurel Ryks and Avery Fahl finalized the 25-11 win.

The Tiger student section — saturated with red, white and blue clothing — was jam-packed and ready to support Marshall volleyball well before the first serve. The student section was loud all night long and consistently brought energy into the gym, carrying on even after the final point.

“We did have a great crowd tonight. You never know how those things are going to go in a section match, but we feel fortunate about the number of people that were able to show up tonight,” Marshall head coach Dan Westby said. “Hopefully football has a big crowd tomorrow night as well.”

Ryks and Avery and Julia Fahl each had kills to start the second set, and three straight aces from Drake brought the Tigers’ lead to 7-0 before Mankato West got on the scoreboard.

“I think that’s [long service runs] just really difficult for teams to overcome at times, so we’re just really excited that our kids came out with the focus that they had,” Westby said.

Drake swung for a team-leading 14 kills while Julia and Avery Fahl contributed 12 and nine, respectively. Gillingham was the team’s leading facilitator with 24 set assists while Avery added another 15​.

Kezlyn Pinckney also served an ace for the Tigers shortly after the scoring run ended, and Avery Fahl and Devos each recorded a kill before combining for a block to bring the Tiger advantage to 13-3.

Pinckney was the team’s defensive leader with 17 digs in the semifinal win, while Drake and Avery Fahl chipped in 11 and eight.

Holmgren got into a groove midway through the second game, putting together a kill and a pair of ace blocks over the course of consecutive points to force Mankato West to call a timeout trailing 16-4.

Drake responded to a pair of Mankato West points with a pair of kills, and Avery Fahl added another pair to bring Marshall’s lead up to 20-8. A Holmgren kill and a kill and an ace from Julia Fahl prompted a Mankato West timeout trailing 23-10, but Drake hit for a pair of kills after the break to end the set with a 25-11 Marshall win.

Ryks and Drake kills gave Marshall the first pair of points of the final set, and the Tigers continued to build their edge up to 6-2 on a Ryks and Avery Fahl block.

The Scarlets threatened to make a run at Marshall with back-to-back points before Marshall got rolling again. An ace from Avery Fahl, and two kills and an ace from Julia Fahl, got Marshall rolling to 11-5 and Brownlee added yet another service ace to bring the score to 13-6.

Marshall’s aggressive service continued to define the match as Gillingham became the third Tiger in the set with a service ace before Mankato West called a timeout trailing 17-7. Yet, Drake served a pair of aces after the timeout, and a Julia Fahl block and two kills from Avery Fahl propelled the Tigers to a 25-8 win.

Friday’s win came after Westby earned his 600th career win in the section quarterfinals on Wednesday. As usual, Dan credited the accolade to the kids.

“You win with players, and we’ve been fortunate over the years to have so many kids that have been willing to commit themselves to doing this,” Westby said. “Because we do put in a lot of time. You talked about the standard that we have to get back to the section championship and beyond, and that requires commitment. Our kids have been so good about that over the years.”

Marshall will look to continue to set that standard of excellence when it takes on Willmar in the section championship in Redwood Falls on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The match pits last year’s section finalists against each other once again after Willmar won the first set last season before Marshall won three straight to close out the victory.

“It’ll be tough. We played Willmar all the way back in August, so that was a long time ago,” Westby said. “We like to think we’ve improved since then, but I’m sure Willmar is probably thinking the same thing. It’ll be a great match, they’ve got a lot of talented kids and we just hope we can bring a good effort.”

A win for Marshall would give the Tigers their eighth consecutive state tournament appearance. The last time Marshall didn’t win the section title was 2016, when some of the current players on the team were just five years old.