Photo by Samantha Davis. Marshall's Brooke Gillingham hits a kills in the first set against St. Peter Friday night. The Tigers swept the Saints and move on to the Section 2AAA championship next Wednesday.

MARSHALL — The top-seeded Marshall girls volleyball team is moving on to the Section 2AAA championship in search of its seventh consecutive section title after taking down No. 4 St. Peter Friday night in the semifinals. The Tigers defeated the Saints 25-20, 29-27, 25-12 behind an effort of resiliency and fixing errors as they came.

“It’s always a goal when the season starts,” Marshall head coach Dan Westby said regarding reaching the championship. “To get back to that match, it feels good.”

Marshall and St. Peter have not met since the 2022 section championship, showing that both teams would be playing against different talent neither has seen in a while. Although the Tigers swept the Saints at that time, St. Peter entered Friday with a 21-8 record winning its last five matches, four of which have been sweeps.

“They [St. Peter] are a great team. They’ve been ranked in and out of the top-10 all season long. They’ve got a lot of experience,” Westby said. “Those kids weren’t going to go down without a fight, and they certainly didn’t … It was a really exciting match.”

St. Peter challenged Marshall the entire match, especially in the second set with a 9-point lead before a Tiger rally stopped the drought, and gave them momentum to finish the sweep.

Avery Fahl had a triple-double performance with a team-high 21 assists with 13 kills and 15 digs. Reese Drake logged a double-double with 16 kills and 19 digs.

Both sides came into the game with intensity, fighting in the pressure of win-or-go home. As the Marshall bleachers filled with supporters and the student section all in neon attire, the Tigers were able to take the first set despite a late tie.

Drake got the night’s first point with an attack, and hit a few more while also protecting the back row to help keep Marshall in front.

The set was point-for-point to start, until the Tigers could breakaway into a 17-11 advantage after a few serving and receiving errors from St. Peter.

Following a Saints timeout, St. Peter went on a 6-0 run to bring the deficit to 19-18, before they tied it up at 19 and Westby called a reset to gather his team.

Fahl then stopped the Saints’ run with an attack, followed by a pair of Marshall service aces. With a 23-19 lead, Laurel Ryks spiked a kill and a St. Peter’s attacking error gave Marshall set one.

Ryks ended the match with 10 kills.

With the gym only growing louder, the competition did the same. Marshall proved its resiliency in the second set with a late comeback.

St. Peter jumped to a 7-2 lead in the second set, which quickly became 10-4 coming from a mix of attacks, and receiving and communication errors on Marshall’s end. The Tigers took a timeout with a 15-8 deficit.

“I thought it was really good play by St. Peter. We weren’t doing much of anything very well,” Westby said. “The things that we feel like we can hang our hat on, we weren’t doing well.”

St. Peter’s Emmy Remmert fell down with a leg injury after running up for a kill shortly after the timeout, and did not return to the game. The Saints circled around her while the crowd applauded and stood in support as she was carted off the court.

“When Emmy Remmert got hurt for them, that took a lot of luster out of the match overall, I think. Their team was playing well at that point. She was playing well, and we didn’t have an answer for her,” Wetsby said. “An unfortunate thing. Always hate to see that happen … Certainly hope things turn out well for her.”

Fahl hit three kills, Ryks had a pair and Audree Larson hit another in addition to Kezlyn Pinckney protecting the team defensively to bring the Tigers back within five at 22-17 following a 9-point trail.

Larson finished with three kills, while Pinckney had 13 digs.

Marshall continued its run to bring the set within a point at 23-22 after two Drake kills, a Larson block and two Saints errors.

In a nail biting manner, the set became tied at 27 as each team found a response after each given point. A St. Peter error and Fahl kill eventually secured the set for Marshall.

“It was back and forth. Both teams had opportunities to win that second set and come out on top,” Westby said. “We made a couple big plays there at the end.”

The second set thrill gave Marshall the momentum it needed to finish the night in victory.

The Tigers built an 11-3 lead, and didn’t allow the Saints to attempt a comeback and force a fourth set.

The advantage grew to 18-7 with a full-team effort, and more contributions from Drake and Fahl with kills set by Brooke Gillingham with Kyah Pinckney and Kezlyn in the back row.

Gillingham had 19 assists and nine digs on the night. Kyah tallied nine digs.

“We relaxed quite a bit in that third set, and we started doing things a little bit more like we’re accustomed to doing,” Westby said.

With a 24-12 lead, Marshall officially was championship bound with match point coming from a Larson kill.

“It was a grind. St. Peter was ready to go,” Westby said. “We feel fortunate to be moving on.”

Marshall moves to 25-6 overall and will compete in the 2AAA championship on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at Redwood Valley High School at 7 p.m. against No. 2 Willmar.

The last time Marshall and Willmar (22-8) met was in the season opener on Aug. 22, in which the Tigers left with a sweep over the Cardinals.

“It’s been a long time since we played Willmar,” Westby said. “Both teams are different since that point, so we are going to try to do what we can to prepare and hopefully be ready to be ready to go on Wednesday.”