Photo by Jake McNeill: Marshall setter Brooke Gillingham (4) celebrates a Marshall point as Kyah Pinckney (3) and Halle DeVos (8) react from the bench during Thursday’s non-conference volleyball match against Mayer Lutheran at Marshall High School.

MARSHALL — The top tier of Minnesota prep volleyball talent was present at Marshall High School on Thursday night as the Class 3A No. 1 Marshall Tigers hosted Class A No. 2 Mayer Lutheran for a non-conference matchup Thursday night. Both teams went to the state championship match last season, with the Tigers falling in the 3A championship and the Crusaders winning the Class A championship. Yet, it was the Tigers that came out victorious this time around with a 25-12, 25-16, 25-17 sweep behind its strong defensive play, led by libero Kezlyn Pinckney’s 19 digs in the back row.

“We were very, very excited to play them. All of us were super-duper excited because they are a very, very good team,” Marshall middle blocker Avery Fahl said. “It makes us a better team when we get to play those very good teams, and that’s good for us.”

At the start of the first set, Mayer Lutheran came out on fire. The Crusaders scored each of the match’s first 3 points before Marshall flipped the switch. Avery and Julia Fahl came up with back-to-back kills to get the Tigers on the board, and Reese Drake served up an ace to tie the match at 3 points apiece.

The Crusaders didn’t take the rally lying down, responding with a kill to regain the lead, but each of the falls answered with another kill to give Marshall a 5-4 lead.

After the Crusaders tied the set at 5 points apiece, the Tigers rattled off four unanswered to take a 10-6 lead. Mayer Lutheran tried to slow Marshall’s momentum with a timeout, but Marshall still led for the remainder of the set.

“It’s been a while since we’ve had a match that’s been like… They came out and kind of stuck it to us right away, but our kids reacted really well,” Marshall head coach Dan Westby said. “It’s been a while since that’s happened to us, and it was good to see our kids respond the way they did.”

Back-row defense was key to Marshall’s first-set success. Pinckney and Avery Fahl dived all over the floor for a series of digs as Marshall extended its scoring run to 5-0, and then as it answered the Mayer Lutheran point with a 4-0 run to bring the lead to 15-7.

“Those plays are so important because they can give your team a boost and, at the same time, they can be somewhat deflating to the opponent,” Westby said of the team’s defensive effort. “Those hustle plays like that are so important to what we’re trying to do.”

From there, Marshall coasted to victory, with a Pinckney ace and a Julia Fahl kill sealing the 25-12 win.

The Fahls were key components of Marshall’s attack all night. Avery tied Drake with a team-high 15 kills while Julia added another eight. Avery’s 16 set assists were also second only to Brooke Gillingham’s 21.

Defense set the tone for the Tigers all night long, starting with their effort in the back row. Pinckney was at the forefront of that effort for Marshall, tallying 19 digs in the match. Drake and Avery Fahl also contributed with 10 and nine digs, respectively.

“Our block did a really good job of setting it up; that’s the first line of defense,” Pinckney said when asked about the team’s success in the back row. “It was easy for us to read in the back row, knowing I have Kyah [Pinckney] and Reese by my side, so just the trust we have in the back row playing next to each other is really good.”

Mayer Lutheran struggled to get hits past Marshall’s wall up front. Avery Fahl, Nora Holmgren and Laurel Ryks each finished with a pair of ace blocks as Marshall took advantage of a significant size advantage.

Avery Fahl gave Marshall its first second-set points with back-to-back kills. The Tigers maintained a narrow lead from there until a digging error tied up the set at 8 points apiece.

The two teams went back and forth, with Marshall holding off the Crusaders until a hitting error and a serve-receive error against the Tigers gave Mayer Lutheran its first lead of the game, 14-13.

Just as quickly as errors gave the Crusaders a lead, errors also took it away. The Crusaders sent a serve past the back line to give Marshall the tying point, and a pair of hitting errors gave the Tigers a 2-point lead and an Avery Fahl kill prompted the Crusaders to call the game’s first timeout, trailing 17-14.

Going to the huddle did nothing to stall out the Tigers’ attack. Aces from Julia Fahl and Brooke Gillingham, as well as strong blocking up front, helped Marshall pull away. The Crusaders called their second timeout when an Avery Fahl kill made the score 24-16, but the Tigers scored the first point out of the break again to seal the win.

Marshall’s aggressive service paid off in the match. Drake, Julia Fahl and Brooke Gillingham each served up a pair of aces on the night while Halle DeVos contributed another. Drake and Gillingham were also perfect on their serves in the match, with Drake going 18 of 18 and Gillingham going 10 of 10.

Mayer Lutheran struck first in the final set but Marshall kept answering. Ryks had one kill to tie the set and Avery Fahl added another two as the Tigers and Crusaders each kept going one step forward, one step back.

Reese Drake broke the cycle with a kill to give Marshall its first lead of the game, and DeVos kept the momentum rolling with a service ace. Marshall scored 8 of the next 10 points from there to give itself some breathing room.

The Crusaders trimmed the Tigers’ lead to as few as 5 points, but Marshall’s strong block never let Mayer Lutheran get back within striking distance. Marshall’s lead grew back to as many as 9 points, and kills from Drake, Ryks and Avery Fahl finalized a 25-17 win for Marshall.

Marshall improves to 20-1 on the season with the win and carries a four-match win streak into its Senior Night match against Alexandria (7-13) on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.

“This is the time of year that you want to be playing your best, and we feel good about the fact that we’ve got four matches in a row at home here to finish the season,” Westby said. “We’ve got to make the most of that. You get those opportunities to play at home, you need to use them. And I thought our effort tonight all the way through was pretty good.”