Marshall stops Benilde-St. Margaret's, takes another Class 3A volleyball title

Top-seeded Marshall made it clear early that it would not be leaving Xcel Energy Center on Saturday without its eighth volleyball state championship.

The Tigers rolled from the start against third-seeded Benilde-St. Margaret's, winning the Class 3A championship match 25-18, 25-11, 25-18.

Marshall (33-2) won the front court with a decided edge in hitting percentage and also had fewer attack errors.

Randi Wendorff and Lauren Wherry had hitting percentages of at least .400 and Brooke Andries hit over .300 for the Tigers. The Red Knights did not have a front-court player reach .200 and had two players with negative hitting percentages.

"Our team is so balanced," Tigers senior Leah Jones said. "It's so easy to find the holes in other teams. Just us being balanced is hard for teams to stop us because they don't know where the ball is gonna end up."

The Red Knights had 39 errors, the Tigers 20 fewer.

The Tigers took the first set with four aces, while the Red Knights had five attack errors.

It did not get better for the Red Knights in the second set. Their hitting percentage dropped from .235 to .062 as they fell two games behind.

The Red Knights (25-8) found some life in the third set, but it was not enough.

"I think we fought really hard," coach Michael Becker said. "I think when you look at our defensive effort and what a team like Marshall is capable of doing, I think we fought like hell. One of the things that a team like Marshall tries to do is overwhelm you. I think we, for the majority of the match, were able to stay composed and continued to fight hard."

Jones led the Tigers with 11 kills and 11 digs, Wendorff had eight kills, Wherry had 28 assists, Kennedy Drake had 12 digs and Caitlyn Christenson had 10 digs.

Lily Eigner led the Red Knights with 10 kills and 10 digs, Michaela Dooley had 17 digs and Ellery Clark had 22 assists.

"It's been a part of our lives for four-plus years, so it's kind of hard to wrap your head around right now," senior Lily Eigner said about the Red Knights' feelings after the game. "This team was like a family to us. This program has given me, and I'm sure the three other seniors, so much. It's kind of hard to grasp at the moment."