Prep Volleyball: State Class AA Quarterfinals: Marshall sweeps the Lady Wolverines
Lady Wolverine Avery Jackson dives to keep the ball in play during the state quarterfinal action at the Xcel Energy Center on Thursday. Jackson shared a team-high 11 digs with Hope Theisen (4) but the Lady Wolverines were swept by Marshall.
Photos by Mike Isola/Beyond the Bleachers
The State Class AA Quarterfinals between unranked Wadena-Deer Creek and top-seed Marshall was a catfight from the get-go.
Unfortunately for the younger Lady Wolverines, the polished and seasoned Tigers simply outhustled them in three games to advance to the semifinals by scores of 25-20, 25-21 and 25-11.
Marshall—which was making its ninth consecutive trip to the state tournament and 21st overall appearance—had to earn it, especially in the first two games.
The feisty Lady Wolverines—featuring just one senior and a bulk of juniors—rallied from a 19-9 deficit in the first game to pull within two points of the Tigers, 22-20.
The second-ranked Tigers committed numerous attacking and setting errors in the span to help the Lady Wolverines mount a serious challenge.
Kelsi Crawford led the late Wadena-Deer Creek charge with five kills with Rachael Carlisle adding two kills and Brittney Noon collected one but it wasn’t enough to overcome the large deficit.
Marshall finished out the game with two consecutive kills from senior Dani Beekman and sophomore Jessica Baker iced the win with a kill.
Kelsi Crawford sends one of her match-high 14 kills past Marshall defender Amy Full (12) in the Lady Wolverines state quarterfinal loss on Thursday.
Wadena-Deer Creek rebounded in the second game to lead five different times by leads of four points and were in the driver’s seat to pick up their first game victory in state with a 21-18 lead.
After Marshall called their second timeout, the Tigers reeled off seven straight points to win the game behind a pair of kills from Rachel Westby and three Lady Wolverine attacking errors.
“We let this one slip away from us,” Wadena-Deer Creek coach Sue Volkmann said. “We started tipping the ball over the net instead of attacking like we were before during the game.”
Marshall led the third game from the start to finish with the 25-11 victory to advance to Friday’s semifinals with Hibbing.
Kelsi Crawford led the Lady Wolverines with a match-high 14 kills. Carlisle tallied seven kills and Noon added six as Wadena-Deer Creek fell into Friday’s consolation semifinals with New London-Spicer.
Courtney Volkmann added 31 set assists, 10 digs and one ace serve and both Hope Theisen and Avery Jackson each collected 11 digs.
“Marshall showed us why they were ranked up there and the favorites to win this tournament,” Volkmann added. “We started out too slow and didn’t play at the level that got us here [state]. We played well in bursts during the first two games but we need to stay at that consistent rhythm from start to finish—and that was lacking today. We just made too many uncharacteristic mistakes.”
Jessica Baker led Marshall with 10 kills and three blocks while Kayla Wallerich collected nine kills, 23 set assists, 13 digs and three blocks for the Tigers. Rachel Westby also added eight kills and 11 digs.
Marshall—last years state runner-ups—justified their top rankings in the 75-minute match. They slammed 43 kills, served up eight aces and denied the Lady Wolverines at the net with 10 blocks.
Class AA State Volleyball Tournament
Quarterfinals
No. 1 Marshall vs. Wadena-Deer Creek on November 12
Tigers defeated the Lady Wolverines 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-11)
WDC Stats
Kills—Kelsi Crawford 14, Rachael Carlisle 7, Brittney Noon 6, Rachel Craig 3, Courtney Volkmann 1, Avery Jackson 1, Sydney Schissel 1, Emily Miron 1
Digs—Hope Theisen 11, Jackson 11, Courtney Volkmann 10, Mandyy Perkins 6, Crawford 6, Caitlin Volkmann 3, Craig 2, Noon 2, Schissel 1, Keeley Timm 1
Serving—Caitlin Volkmann 11 for 11, Courtney Volkmann 9 for 12 with an ace, Hope Theisen 9 for 9, Noon 7 for 7, Jackson 11 for 11, Perkins 4 for 4, Schissel 1 for 1, Heather Theisen 2 for 2
Blocks—Courtney Vokmann 1, Noon 1, Craig 1
Set Assists—Courtney Volkmann 31, Caitlin Volkmann 1
Marshall Stats
Kills—Jessica Baker 10, Kayla Wallerich 9, Rachel Westby 8, Amy Full 7, Dani Beekman 5, Kelsey Deragisch 3, Tina Tauer 1
Digs—Wallerich 13, Alyssa Netzke 12, Westby 11, Deragisch 10, Beekman 7, Kelsey Michelson 4, Full 2, Tauer 1
Serving—Netzke 12 for 12 with three aces, Wallerich 12 for 12 with two aces, Westby 11 for 11 with two aces, Michelson 17 for 17, Beekman 12 for 12 with an ace
Blocks—Wallerich 3, Baker 3, Full 2, Beekman 1, Westby 1
Set Assists—Wallerich 23, Deragisch 15, Tauer 1
