Class 3A volleyball power Marshall cruises past DeLaSalle in quarterfinals

Marshall, winner of the past two Class 3A volleyball championships, came out strong and put away unseeded DeLaSalle in straight sets Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the Class 3A state tournament at Xcel Energy Center.

Marshall, making its 32nd state tournament appearance and possessing eight titles, won 25-11, 25-11, 25-11 after setting a tone with a 13-1 run in the first set. The Tigers put the match away with a 9-0 run midway through the third set. Winning in three sets suited coach Dan Westby.

"That's really important this time of the year," he said. "I know the casual fan sitting in the stands is probably thinking it's OK if this goes four or even five [sets]. But the two matches on our court prior to ours, that's exactly what happened. Teams had opportunities to win early and weren't able to do it.

"When you get to that fifth set it is anybody's [match]. … If you have the opportunity in the state tournament to win in three, I think is really important to do that."

The Islanders (14-15) had small scoring spurts but could not keep up with the Tigers (27-5). Marshall also defeated DeLaSalle in the quarterfinals last season.

"This year we came into the gym and said, 'It is what it is,' " Islanders coach Chelsea Hoops said about facing the top seed and defending champion again. "Someone is going to have to beat them eventually. … All week in the gym we just said, 'Let's have fun this week.' We were gifted another week of volleyball."

Jordyn Johnson led the Islanders with eight kills.

Brielle Riess led the Tigers with 16 kills and three aces. Reese Drake had 12 kills and Morgan Bjella had 10. Kennedy Drake had 14 digs and Brooke Gillingham had 39 assists for the Tigers.

Detroit Lakes rallied in the third set to complete a 25-19, 25-22, 25-19 sweep of fifth-seeded Grand Rapids in the Class 3A quarterfinals.

The Lakers (26-7) went on a 14-6 run to close out the match in the third set. The Lakers took the lead for good at 15-14 on an attack error by the Thunderhawks.

Rylee Johnson provided the final kill and finished with a team-high 10 kills.

"Rylee played a great game. You could see her confidence coming out right now," Lakers coach Rachel Solum said. "She's a kid that wants critical feedback. She wants you to talk to her about what she can do better. She's a kid on a roll right now. She's ready to play."

The Thunderhawks (22-10) led only briefly in the second and third sets but were never out of the match.

"Our girls like to do that," Thunderhawks coach Bekah Sutherland said. "In sections, we actually had two sets we were down by six or seven points. It's just when you get to state you go against teams that are not going to give you that opportunity to get back."

Adrienne Venditto led the Thunderhawks with 16 digs and nine kills. Haylee Finckbone had 15 digs for the Thunderhawks.

Helena Daggett had a team-high 15 digs for the Lakers. Ava Jones had 30 assists.

Byron put away unseeded Monticello in straight sets 25-20, 25-15, 25-16. The third-seeded Bears (24-4) closed out the third set on a 10-1 run.

"Our first set wasn't the prettiest, but each set got just a little bit better," said Bears senior Alexis Nelson, who had 10 digs and nine kills. "I came into this game thinking we're very evenly matched. Things could go the way we want them to or things could go differently. We were prepared and ready to face any challenge ahead of us."

Lauren Fjerstad led the Bears with 14 kills, and Kailani Schroeder had 24 assists.

Alayna Opatz led the Magic (19-12) with 10 digs.

Delano cruised past unseeded Mahtomedi 25-10, 25-15, 25-17 in the quarterfinals.

The Tigers (29-2) controlled play with their serves, piling up 14 aces as a team.

"Those serves gave us a lot of momentum," Tigers sophomore Cassie Wegman said. "They may seem like small points that maybe don't matter, but to us every little point matters."

Kaelyn Wittwer led the way with seven aces. She also had six assists and 17 digs.

"She's always there," Tigers senior Grace Danielson said. "How she reads [the play] is so impressive. To win games you need to make those serves. Kaelyn is able to make those serves aggressively where it keeps teams out of system."

The Zephyrs (17-14) tried to rally in the third set, but the Tigers made a 7-1 run.

"I think scrappiness is one of our [strengths]," said Zephyrs sophomore Kate Hergenrader, who had 12 assists. "We wouldn't give up on a ball. That kept us in a lot of long rallies."

Claire Crothers led the Zephyrs with 10 digs, and Kalli Malvey had a team-high five kills.