Photo by Jake McNeill: Marshall’s Avery Fahl (1) puts up a set as teammates Halle DeVos and Nora Holmgren (15) run toward the net during a prep volleyball match against Waseca on Aug. 26 at Marshall High School. The Tigers earned the top seed in the 2025 Section 2AAA volleyball tournament and will host No. 8 New Ulm on Wednesday.

MARSHALL — In search of its eighth consecutive section championship, the top-ranked Marshall volleyball team enters the 2025 Section 2AAA tournament as the top seed and high expectations. The top-seeded Tigers will take on New Ulm in Wednesday’s quarterfinal round.

The Tigers went 27-2 during the regular season and have already added some hardware to their trophy case, sweeping Windom on Monday to earn the Big South Conference championship. Marshall has won 14 consecutive conference titles and remains the only school to win the Big South since the conference was formed.

To kick off this year’s section tournament, Marshall hosts No. 8 New Ulm in the quarterfinals on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

New Ulm went 8-17 during the regular season and has gone 3-8 since Sept. 15. When the Tigers and Eagles matched up during the regular season, Marshall picked up a 25-10, 25-15, 25-11 win in New Ulm to improve to 14-0 on the season. The Tigers went on to win another pair of matches to start the year 16-0 before sustaining their first loss to Class 4A No. 2 Lakeville South on Sept. 20.

With a win, Marshall would host the winner of No. 4 Mankato West and No. 5 Hutchinson in the semifinals on Friday at 7 p.m. The Mankato West Scarlets went 13-10 on the season while Hutchinson went 14-11.

In Marshall’s regular-season matchup against Mankato West, the Tigers earned a 25-8, 25-9, 25-18 win over the Scarlets in Mankato. Marshall has not dropped a set to a non-Class 4A school this season.

On the opposite side of the bracket, No. 2 Willmar hosts No. 7 Worthington in Wednesday’s quarterfinals while No. 3 Mankato East hosts No. 6 St. Peter.

Willmar aims to return to the section championship match after falling to Marshall in four sets in last year’s championship match. The Cardinals won the first set before Marshall rattled off three consecutive wins to seal the win.

The Section 2AAA championship match is slated to be played at Redwood Valley High School on Oct. 29 at 7 p.m.