Photos by Jake McNeill: Marshall’s Avery Fahl (11) and Laurel Ryks go up for a block during the second set of the Big South Conference volleyball championship match against Windom on Tuesday in Marshall.

MARSHALL — Conference championships have become the norm for the top-ranked Marshall volleyball team, and that expectation isn’t going anywhere any time soon. The Tigers have won the Big South Conference championship every season of the league’s existence, and added their 14th consecutive conference title to their trophy case on Tuesday with a straight-sets win over Windom, 25-16, 25-12, 25-19.

“We talked before the game that, stepping onto the court from here on out, each game is for a championship,” Marshall outside hitter Reese Drake said. “It’s always a super fun time getting to compete knowing that we have something big to play for.”

Marshall opened the first game firing on all cylinders. A pair of kills from Avery Fahl, another from Halle DeVos and a Maia Radke service ace gave the Tigers each of the match’s first 6 points when Windom called a timeout.

Out of the break, the Tigers continued to roar ahead when kills from Fahl and Brooke Gillingham brought Marshall’s lead to 8 points before Windom scored its first point. The Tigers went on to get another pair of kills from Fahl and a kill and an ace from DeVos to bring the lead up to 12-1, and Marshall led 14-2 before the Eagles got their first kill of the match.

The Tigers’ senior core was at the center of the team’s early success. Marshall started a lineup of six seniors, including Reese Drake, Fahl, DeVos, Radke, Gillingham, and Kyah Pinckney taking over at libero for her younger sister Kezlyn, though Kezlyn resumed libero duties after the first set.

Marshall head coach Dan Westby said that he felt that playing as a starting group was something these seniors had earned with the work they’ve done in practice and matches over their time with the team, and that it was fun to see them execute as well as they did together.

“It’s always different just because it’s a different lineup, but it’s always fun just to be able to play with our seniors,” Kyah Pinckney said of shifting over to libero from defensive specialist. “[The all-senior lineup] was kind of a surprise last-minute at practice, [Westby] wanted to do something special, and I think it was really fun to be able to play with everyone together.”​

Kyah went on to finish the match with a team-leading 16 digs on the night, followed by 10 from Fahl and nine from Gillingham. Avery and Julia Fahl and Laurel Ryks each also logged a block to help out the defense in the match.

Late in the set, the Eagles started to find a rhythm to cut into Marshall’s lead. Windom went on a pair of 4-0 runs down the stretch to cut Marshall’s lead to 7 points, 21-14, but a Fahl kill and a pair of errors from Windom gave Marshall the 25-15 win.

“That group of seniors is pretty tight. They’ve been through a lot together, so they’ve earned that right to do that together, and it was nice to see them make the most of it,” Westby said of his seniors’ performance in the first set.

Ryks and Avery Fahl combined for a block to give Marshall the first point of the second set, but the Eagles tied it right back up on the next point but a Windom error, a Julia Fahl ace block and a combined block from Avery Fahl and Ryks got Marshall’s lead right back up to 4-1.

Windom stayed within striking distance for the first half of the set, staying with a point until Marshall led 6-5. Yet, the Tigers slowly but steadily pulled away. A trio of Drake kills helped Marshall extend its lead to 11-8, and an Avery Fahl kill, a Julia Fahl block and a Windom hitting error brought the Tigers’ lead to 14-8 when Windom called its first timeout of the set.

Drake tallied 15 kills in the match, followed by 13 from Avery Fahl and nine each from Julia Fahl and Nora Holmgren. Gillingham facilitated the offense with 24 set assists, while Avery Fahl added another 12.

Even after talking things over, Windom was unable to trim down the Tigers’ lead. Kills from each of the Fahl sisters helped Marshall pull out 5 of the next 7 points when Windom called its second timeout, trailing 19-10, and a Holmgren kill sealed the win at 25-12.

In the third set, Windom got off to a hot start. The Eagles scored 3 of the first 5 points to take their first lead of the night. Marshall and Windom battled back and forth, with Marshall eventually being prompted to call a timeout trailing 9-6.

Out of the huddle, Marshall clawed its way back to within a point, 12-11. Windom surged back ahead, but a Drake kill and a Windom error gave Marshall a 15-14 lead.

Both teams pulled ahead and fell behind, but the Tigers found a rhythm, trailing 18-16. Kills from Drake and Holmgren tied up the match before a service error gave Windom the lead back, but Marshall again surged ahead with an Avery Fahl block, prompting Windom to call a timeout trailing 21-19.

After the break, Marshall continued to barrel ahead like a runaway train. Kills from Avery Fahl and Drake and a Gillingham service ace highlighted a run of 6 unanswered points to close out the 25-19 win.

Drake attributed the team’s ability to come back to just cleaning up errors, saying that some of the balls that dropped in the set are balls that Marshall feels confident in its ability to keep in play.

The Tigers head into the section tournament seeding at 26-2 on the season, and will await the announcement of the bracket tomorrow to find out their next opponent.

“I think it just adds extra focus every time we step out onto the court,” Kyah Pinckney said. “It just makes us want to compete harder knowing what’s on the line.”

Marshall is looking to earn its eighth consecutive section championship as it heads into the postseason. The section quarterfinals are scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 22, while the semifinals are slated for Friday, Oct. 24. Both of the first two rounds of the 2AAA tournament will be played at 7 p.m. at the site of the high seed, while the championship round will be played at Redwood Valley High School on Oct. 29.

“Everybody’s zero-and-zero now, so everybody’s at the same level,” Westby said of his team’s approach to the postseason. “We’ve just got to come to practice and get better every day.”