Photo by Jake McNeill: The Marshall volleyball team poses with its section 2AAA championship trophy and its “ticket” to the state tournament after defeating Willmar in the section final at Redwood Valley High School on Oct. 29. Marshall earned the top seed in the Class AAA tournament and opens the state tournament with a matchup against Big Lake on Wednesday at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul.

MARSHALL — For the fourth time in the last five years, the Marshall volleyball team is entering the Class AAA state volleyball tournament as the top seed. The Tigers will open their quest to become the first program in Minnesota to crack double-digit state titles on Wednesday when they take on No. 8 Big Lake at Grand Casino Arena — formerly the Xcel Energy Center — at 5 p.m.

The Tigers were the top seed in the state tournament for three consecutive seasons from 2021 through 2023, going on to win the state title each of those three seasons. The run ended when Marshall was seeded second last season behind Delano. Marshall still returned to the state championship match last year but were defeated in four sets by No. 5 Alexandria, which also upset Delano in the semifinals.

Marshall enters this year’s state tournament with a record of 30-2, falling only to Class 4A No. 2 Lakeville South at the Apple Valley Tournament and Class 4A No. 2 Eagan at the Lakeville North tournament (the two programs were tied in the final coaches poll). Marshall had defeated Lakeville South to win the Southwest Challenge earlier in the season, and the Tigers swept every team they faced in Class 3A or below throughout the season.

Big Lake enters the state tournament at 13-17 but finished strong down the stretch. The Hornets got off to a 3-9 start but closed the season winning eight of their final 10 matches, winning Section 5AAA after dropping their final pair of regular-season matches.

With a win, Marshall would take on either No. 4 Sauk Rapids-Rice (25-2) or No. 5 Cretin-Derham Hall (22-4) in the semifinals on Friday at 9 a.m.

On the opposite side of the bracket, Benilde-St. Margaret’s earned the second seet at 26-5 and will take on No. 7 Grand Rapids (22-10) while No. 3 Stewartville (26-4) faces off against No. 6 Mahtomedi (21-9) on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Benilde-St. Margaret’s was ranked No. 3 in the final coaches poll, but upset No. 2 Delano in the Section 6AAA tournament. Delano was the lone school preventing Marshall from the status of a unanimous No. 1, receiving a pair of first-place votes while the other 14 went to the Marshall Tigers.

The Class AAA championship is slated for Friday at 6:30 p.m. The third-place game will also be played on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. while the fifth-place match is scheduled for 8:30 a.m.