The All-Minnesota Sports Awards, presented by Strib Varsity of The Minnesota Star Tribune, honors coaches, athletes and programs across the state for excellence performance and outstanding achievements each year.

“Just like anything that comes our way, this is a program award,” Westby said. “If there aren’t extraordinary things going on within a program by multiple people or groups of people, these types of things wind up elsewhere.”

Westby has continued to cement his legendary coaching status throughout the southwest Minnesota region, and at the state-wide level. He had led both the girls basketball and volleyball programs as head coach since 2009. He took over volleyball in 2004, and stepped in for basketball in 2009. The rest since then, has truly been history.

Marshall volleyball has established itself as a dynasty in Minnesota under Westby’s time, being the winningest program in the state with 10 state championships. No other program has reached double-digit titles, all of which have come under Westby.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Marshall volleyball head coach Dan Westby smiles at his team from the sidelines during the Class AAA state semifinals against Cretin-Derham Hall on Nov. 7, 2025, at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul. Westby was named the All-Minnesota Girls Sport Coach of the Year.

This season, the Tigers avenged last year’s state runner-up finish and cruised through a majority of the 2025 season that eventually finished with their fourth Class AAA state championship in five years in the program’s 34th, eighth straight, state tournament appearance.

A handful of players said they took last year’s upset to Alexandria in the championship match personally, and fueled that feeling throughout this season.

Westby also said following the championship that the team was reminded often about that loss throughout the year, on both a player and coaching level, detailing that there was going to be an all-around collective group effort in righting past mistakes. Fast forward, and it all worked out how Westby and the team had hoped, and made history along the way.

Marshall ended the season as the top-ranked team in Minnesota, of all classes, and finished 33-2 overall.

A definitive point of the season was Marshall defeating four Class 4A teams, including top-10 ranked teams in Prior Lake, Chanhassen and Lakeville South, to win the Southwest Challenge in September. Notably, Prior Lake and Lakeville South played one another for the 4A state championship this season as well.

Photo by Samantha Davis: Marshall girls basketball head coach Dan Westby calls out a play from the sideline in the Class AAA state quarterfinals against Totino-Grace on March 11, 2026, at Maturi Pavilion in Minneapolis. Westby was named the All-Minnesota Girls Sport Coach of the Year.

The girls basketball team has also been nothing short of dominant under Westby’s time.

The Tigers got back to the state tournament this season, for the 15th time in program history and ninth time under Westby, after finishing as runners-up in 2025.

Marshall did everything it could to get back to the last week of the season in the state, and did it in an all-controlling fashion. The Tigers won their second consecutive Section 2AAA championship, and did so after going undefeated in the Big South Conference and spent the entire season state-ranked.

Finishing 27-5 overall this season, Marshall came home with state hardware once again after defeating Cretin-Derham Hall in the third-place game.

Particularly, the Tigers were known for their tenacious defense and full-court press, and forced running clock more often than not.

Throughout both volleyball and basketball this season, Westby and his coaching staff also continued to develop the players’ craft that led to multiple individual All-State recognitions.

Taleigha Bigler and Reese Drake were both tabbed to the girls basketball All-State team this season, as was Drake, Avery Fahl and Brooke Gillingham for volleyball.

After putting together another stellar campaign in both sports, Westby was also named the Independent’s volleyball and girls basketball Coach of the Year this season.

Throughout both seasons, Westby credited his coaching staff on a handful of occasions for the amount of time that is put in with scouting and game preparation. He would also often note in both sports that he finds himself taking a step back on the sidelines to admire the talent on the court.

“We are so fortunate to have outstanding coaching staffs in both sports, as well as committed players,” Westby said. “Our support from school administration, as well as our parents and community, is second to none.”

This is Westby’s first time receiving an All-Minnesota Sports Award, and he was honored at the award ceremony Thursday night alongside all recipients at Allianz Field in St. Paul.