Article and photos by T Ray Henry
On Tuesday, September 1st, the Marshall High School volleyball team traveled to Teutopolis for their first road test of the season. The Lions came into the contest with a record of 1-0, while the Wooden Shoes came in with a record of 2-0.
Since Marshall and Teutopolis began playing volleyball in 2016, the two schools have met on the court 11 times. Marshall has won just once (in the state tournament in 2022), and with the exception of the one victory, the Lions have won a total of two sets in the other ten matches combined.
In this early-season contest between two of the best volleyball teams in the area, Marshall let T-Town jump out to big leads to open both sets before the Lions played the home team evenly the rest of the way in both sets with some really good play on display by both sides. The early deficits, however, proved to be the Lions’ undoing as they fell in straight sets 25-14 and 25-16.
Each set mirrored the other as the senior-laden T-Town side, which rolls out 11 seniors on the floor, jumped out in the opening set to a 9-2 lead before Marshall got their legs under them with a Harper Richardson winner. Kills by Ellie Delp, Lilly Ross, followed by another winner by Harper Richardson and another kill by Lilly Ross, brought the visitors back to within three with the score 9-6.
The Wooden Shoes responded by running off 5 straight points before Marshall’s Harper Richardson tipped home a winner to make it 14-7. Two more kills by Lilly Ross and one kill by Harper Richardson were the highlights for the Lions the rest of the way in the opening set as T-Town came out on top 25-14.
The second set began with the Lions falling behind once again, this time by a score of 9-1 as the squad kept trying to dial the hits in. Libby Huisinga and Harper Richardson each scored a winner and McKenzie Davis, who played an outstanding all-around match, had a kill. Another Davis kill, followed by consecutive Lilly Ross kills and a kill by Ellie Delp, kept pace with the Wooden Shoes. A lengthy rally towards the end where all six players on the floor for Marshall made terrific plays, was highlighted by great defensive play by libero Ali Sheets and McKenzie Davis along the back row. The marathon rally was followed by a kill by Harper Richardson, but in the end, the big deficit in the beginning of the set found the Lions on the short end of a 25-16 score.
Lions Statistical Highlights
Assists: Richardson 7, Ross 5
Kills: Ross 7, Richardson 4
Aces: Ross 1
Digs: Davis 13, Ross 6, Sheets 6, Richardson 5
In the junior varsity match, the young Lions went toe to toe with the Wooden Shoes in the first half and had a chance to come out ahead before ultimately falling 25-18. In the second set, Marshall couldn’t maintain the same intensity they had in the first set as they fell 25-13. Scoring for the JV Lions were Libby Huisinga, Lauren Richards, Olivia Strohm, Charlee Francis, Allie Thompson, Breck Bishop, and Aubree Shaffer. Lexi Mason played very well along the back row digging strikes and returning serves.
Marshall moves to 1-1 on the season as they quickly turn the page to Thursday night’s home tilt against Dieterich. Junior varsity action inside McNary Gymnasium is scheduled to begin at 6:00 PM, with the varsity match to follow.
Harper Richardson (3) sets the ball for a strike against T-Town
Lilly Ross goes up and smashes a kill against Teutopolis
McKenzie Davis strikes the ball against Teutopolis
Ellie Delp (10) strikes a kill for Marshall against T-Town
Lauren English (5) readies a strike at Teutopolis