Photo by Samantha Davis: Marshall head coach Dan Westby talks to his team from the sideline during the Class AAA state volleyball semifinals at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul on Nov. 7. Westby was named the Independent’s Coach of the Year in Saturday’s edition of the Independent.

MARSHALL — Nobody in the history of Minnesota volleyball has been as successful at coaching as Marshall head coach Dan Westby. During his tenure with the team so far, Westby had led the Tigers to the most state championships of any program in Minnesota. He added to that number this year, making the Marshall the first program with double-digit state titles — with him at the helm for all of them — and earning our selection as the Independent’s Coach of the Year.

Westby credited the work and talent of the players, the coaching staff, and the support of the community and parents as key factors that have allowed this program to reach the heights that it has.

Coming into this season, the Tigers already had a reputation as one of the state’s top teams. Marshall won three state titles from 2021 to 2023, and had a pair of returning players who had already received All-State honors in Avery Fahl and Reese Drake. Despite the team’s prestige, they still went into this season with a chip on their shoulder after falling to Alexandria in last year’s state championship match.

“We talked about that [state runner-up finish] a lot throughout the course of the season,” Westby said, noting that the team felt that it made some mistakes over the course of last year’s state tournament run that they needed to clean up if they wanted to get it done this time around. “Our overall mental approach to things, we didn’t really feel like our kids were truly fighting for each other at the state tournament… If that wasn’t going to change, the result would be the same, so we just felt like we were the cohesive unit that we needed to be [this year].”

That change was apparent to anyone who watched the Tigers this year. After finishing last season at 27-7, Marshall continued to improve its execution this time with a 33-2 record. The Tigers’ only two losses came against Lakeville South and Eagan — who were tied for No. 2 in the final Class 4A coaches poll — and Marshall’s four-set win over Benilde-St. Margaret’s in the state championship match was their only match against non-Class 4A competition that didn’t end with Marshall winning via sweep.

In terms of hardware, the Tigers racked up plenty of it. Aside from claiming its 10th state title, Marshall also earned its eighth consecutive section championship and its first win at the Southwest Challenge since 2009.

While the Tigers don’t take much stock in the rankings, Westby noted that his team spent much of the season ranked as the top team across all classes in the state, a status that he felt was warranted.

“I think our kids earned that, but at the same time, you can’t sit and look at those and think that teams are just going to roll over,” Westby said. “It’s just the opposite. Teams are going to play harder when you have that target on your back.”

There was no shortage of talent on Marshall’s roster, but the Tigers put in just as much work as any scrappy underdog team would. One of his favorite parts of the season was watching how hard his team worked in practice over the final three weeks of the season, Westby said, adding that he believes that practice should be a war and that the kids’ work ethic there was a big part of why they were so prepared for the postseason.

Players on this Marshall team love being a part of Westby’s system as well. Drake cited wanting to help Westby get his 10th title as one of the players’ key motivations this year, in an interview with the Independent’s Samantha Davis, adding that he was a huge part of her reaching her potential as an athlete. He also makes sure to be present for the younger kids, something that goes a long way in helping the student-athletes develop their talent and their love for the game.

“Coach Westby and a lot of the other coaches up here show their faces when you’re at a lower level, age-wise,” Marshall setter Brooke Gillingham said. “I remember the first face I probably saw was [Marshall assistant coach] Kelly Jones, and ever since then, it was like ‘Oh, she’s one of the varsity coaches, I really want to grow up and play for this program,’… You see coach Westby on the floor, coaching the big girls, and then he comes to your JO [Junior Olympics] practice and you think it’s the coolest thing ever. They’re really connected to the players and the community for volleyball, it’s amazing.”

While the coaching staff doesn’t have all the answers all the time, Westby said when asked about how it feels to be appreciated by his team the way that he is, he feels like the kids respect the way that he and assistant coaches Jones, Alex Boddy, Amber Altheide and Terry Culhane put in as much energy as they can to put the kids in a position to succeed.

“You can’t be the kind of coach that sits there, tells the kids that they need to be committed and put in all this time if you don’t reciprocate and do the same thing,” Westby said.

Marshall consistently puts the team’s success first, but the Tigers did have plenty of individual accolades as well this season. Drake, Gillingham and Fahl were each All-State, All-State Tournament and All-Independent First team. Libero Kezlyn Pinckney was also an All-State tournament selection, while Drake was one of five finalists for the Minnesota Ms. Baden Volleyball award for career excellence and earned her third Independent Player of the Year award after being our Player of the Year for volleyball and girls basketball last year.

“Those individual awards are just a byproduct of what your team is doing. If your team is having great success, then those things will come your way, and if you don’t have team success, then you just won’t get recognized for those sorts of things,” Westby said. “We’re happy for those individuals who received those awards, but in the end, those are team awards.”

After coaching the Marshall volleyball team to its 10th state title, it’s right back to work for Westby; the girls basketball team that he serves as head coach of had its first practice two days after the state volleyball championship match. With plenty of carry-over between the two teams, Westby and the Tigers will look to continue their winning ways deep into the winter.