Photo by Jake McNeill: Marshall setter Brooke Gillingham (4) puts up a set during a non-conference prep volleyball match against Alexandria on Tuesday in Marshall.

MARSHALL — The top-ranked Marshall volleyball team got some comeuppance against the Alexandria volleyball team on Tuesday night. Hosting the Cardinals for senior night, the Tigers avenged their loss to Alexandria in last year’s Class 3A championship match with a 25-17, 25-16, 25-17 win to earn their fifth consecutive sweep.

“After playing them [Alexandria] in last year’s state championship, it just felt nice to sweep them off the floor and kind of get our get-back,” Marshall setter Brooke Gillingham said, adding that she felt the team could have played much cleaner in the match but that it felt good to get the job done in three sets.

Gillingham was one of eight seniors on the team being recognized in the match, along with Avery Fahl, Reese Drake, Kyah Pinckney, Makia Radtke, Brynn Webb, Halle DeVos and Trinity Brownlee.

After falling in a 3-1 hole to start the first set, the Tigers started to heat up with a 6-0 run. Avery Fahl and Laurel Ryks combined for a block and Kezlyn Pinckney served up an ace to start the run, and kills from DeVos and Julia and Avery Fahl gave Marshall 5 unanswered points before an Alexandria hitting error prompted the Cardinals to call a timeout.

Following the break, Alexandria began to cut into Marshall’s lead. A series of Marshall errors helped the Cardinals start to eat away at the deficit, and a service ace brought the Cardinals within a point, 10-9.

Three consecutive Tiger errors gave Alexandria a 16-15 lead, its first since 3-2, but kills from Julia Fahl and DeVos quickly put Marshall back on top, with DeVos’ kill prompting Alexandria to call a timeout trailing 19-16.

“It’s coming together in the middle and having somebody on the court say, ‘Hey… pull the team back together and keep working together,'” Gillingham said of the team being able to build momentum after a lull. “Oftentimes, when it’s back and forth and we’re making plays that aren’t as clean as we usually make them, we just need to come back together and play as a team. So it’s really important to have leadership on the court to pull us back together.”

Down the final stretch, Marshall didn’t let Alexandria get back into the set. DeVos combined for a block on two of the next three points, with a Julia Fahl service ace in between. Drake went on to record back-to-back kills to end the set with a 25-17 win for the Tigers.

Drake led the Tigers with 18 kills in the match, followed by 11 from Avery Fahl and 10 from Julia Fahl. Drake and Avery Fahl were also the team’s leaders in digs, with 14 and 13, respectively, while Kezlyn Pinckney added another seven.

Gillingham was the primary facilitator of the offense in the match with 25 set assists while Avery Fahl contributed another 19.

Like the first set, Alexandria started the second with a slim early lead. The Cardinals scored 2 of the first 3 points, and 3 of the first 5. Yet, a pair of kills from Avery Fahl kept the Tigers right on the Cardinals’ tail and a Drake kill gave Marshall its first lead at 4-2.

Momentum started to build for Marshall as the Cardinals committed a service error and Drake put up an ace block to bring the lead to 8-4, prompting an Alexandria timeout. Drake stayed hot after the break with another kill and another block, and Trinity Brownlee served up an ace to cap off a 5-1 run.

Drake and Fahl each recorded a pair of ace blocks in the match.

As the set progressed, Marshall’s lead steadily increased to 15-8. The Tigers maintained that lead until the final stretch, in which consecutive Alexandria hitting errors brought the lead to 24-14, prompting a timeout from the Cardinals. Alexandria came up with a kill out of the huddle but Avery Fahl sealed the 25-16 win with a kill.

Avery Fahl and Drake started the final set with an emphatic block and Julia Fahl followed up with a kill to give Marshall each of the set’s first 2 points. Avery Fahl also answered Alexandria’s first kill with two of her own to bring the lead to 4-1.

Hitting errors allowed Luverne to get back into the set. DeVos answered a pair of Alexandria’s kills with one of her own each time, but the Cardinals still tied up the set at 6-all.

From there, the two teams alternated points, with the score oscillating between a tie and a 1-point lead for the Tigers up until kills from Julia Fahl and Nora Holmgren brought the Marshall lead to 14-12.

“In those moments, just getting those little bursts of energy were like, ‘Okay, we really have to capitalize on this and take advantage of those opportunities,'” Kyah Pinckney said of the third set’s back-and-forth nature.

The Tigers and Cardinals continued to trade points until Alexandria called a timeout, trailing 19-15. Yet, the Tigers closed the match with a 5-0 run, with kills from DeVos and Nora Holmgren sealing the 25-17 win.

Marshall improves to 21-1 on the season with the win and next hosts Sioux Falls Christian (S.D.) for a non-conference match on Thursday at 7:15 p.m. From there, the Tigers will head to Lakeville North High School for a tournament on Friday and Saturday.

“I think, more than anything now, just a confidence boost [is what we need from that tournament],” Kyah Pinckney said. “We kind of leveled out, and we just want to take advantage of this and play at the best level that we can.”