Article and photos by T Ray Henry
Sandwiched in between a big road match at St. Joe-Ogden and a critical conference match at home this Thursday versus Robinson, the Marshall Lions volleyball teams hosted the Hutsonville-Palestine Lady Tigers in a non-conference doubleheader inside McNary Gymnasium on Tuesday, September 22nd.
After beating a difficult St. Joe’s team in straight sets the night before, the Lions were riding an emotional high. Combined with this week being Homecoming Week at the school, tonight’s match against the Lady Tigers presented Marshall with a proverbial “trap game” before Wednesday night’s Powder Puff battles and Thursday’s important volleyball match at home against the Lady Maroons, who will definitely be seeking revenge just like Oblong did after the Lions won the Robinson tournament last month. The Robinson match also starts a three-match conference swing that will go a long way in deciding how the conference standings pan out as we then move into the final three weeks of the regular season.
Against Hut-Pal, the Lions did what was necessary on the court, and with the exception of a brief lull in the opening set when the Lady Tigers led for 3 points midway through the set, Marshall stayed ahead just enough the rest of the way to win the opener 25-22. In the second set, the Lions played strong from wire to wire as they defeated the Lady Tigers 25-16 to win the match two sets to none. In the JV match which preceded the varsity contest, Marshall also prevailed in straight sets 25-13 and 25-21.
To begin the match, Marshall jumped out to a 4-0 lead as Lilly Ross served an ace on the first point of the match, and Harper Richardson scored on a tip winner to pace the run. Hutsonville-Palestine responded by going on a 4-0 run to tie the set as Rilyn Lawhead served consecutive aces for the Lady Tigers to bring the set level at 4 apiece. A kill by Marshall’s Ellie Delp followed by tip winners from McKenzie Davis and Harper Richardson highlighted a back-and-forth sequence where the teams were tied once again at 10 apiece.
The Lady Tigers went ahead 12-10 before Marshall’s Lilly Ross connected on consecutive kills to tie the set at 12. A tip winner by Harper Richardson , followed by a kill by Libby Huisinga, gave the Lions a 14-12 lead. Hut-Pal scored two straight points to tie it up at 14 before three straight Lions points made it 17-14 in favor of the Big Red.
A kill by Lilly Ross preceded an ace served by Ross which gave Marshall their largest lead of three points at 19-16, but Hutsonville-Palestine stayed close until Marshall’s Ross scored a kill for Marshall to reassume a comfortable three-point lead at 23-20. During this stretch of play, McKenzie Davis scored a kill to keep the Lions out in front. Down to the finish, Lilly Ross connected on another kill as Marshall won the opening set by the score of 25-22.
In the early stage of the second set, Marshall got out ahead 3-0 on tip winners by Lilly Ross and Lauren English, followed by a winning strike by McKenzie Davie over a block attempt by the visitors. The Lions maintained their three-point lead at 6-3 when Lauren English scored a kill down the left side of the floor. Ali Sheets then served an ace, Harper Richardson scored a kill, then Libby Huisinga scored on a tip winner as Marshall opened up a 9-3 lead as Hut-Pal called time out.
The Lions steadily increased their lead on kills by Harper Richardson and Lilly Ross, a block winner by Lauren English, and two aces served by English to give Marshall a 19-9 lead. The teams played to a stalemate the rest of the way, and after getting a kill and a winner from Harper Richardson and a block by Lilly Ross, the Lions found themselves at match point ahead 24-16. Lily Shotts then stepped up to the serving line and immediately scored the final point of the match with an ace, giving Marshall a 25-16 win in Set #2 to complete the sweep of Hutsonville-Palestine two sets to none.
Statistical Highlights
Aces - English 2, Ross 2, Sheets 2, Shotts 1
Assists - Richardson 9, Ross 7
Blocks - Ross 3, Delp 2, Huisinga 2, English 1, Richardson 1
Kills - Richardson 7, Ross 7, Davis 2, English 2, Huisinga 2
Digs - Sheets 12, Ross 5, Delp 4, Richardson 3
In the junior varsity match, after spotting Hut-Pal 3 points, and still behind by three points with the score 5-2, Marshall leveled the set at 7 after getting scores from Olivia Strohm (ace), Libby Huisinga (ace), Aubree Shaffer (kill), and Breck Bishop (kill). With it all knotted up at 7, Allie Thompson served an ace for the Lions to start a dominating run where Marshall outscored Hutsonville-Palestine 18-6 to win the opening set 25-13. During the run, Libby Huisinga scored two kills and an ace, and Olivia Strohm scored two aces, a kill, and a tip winner. Lexi Mason served back-to-back aces, while Aubree Shaffer and Allie Thompson each scored a kill.
In the early going of the second set of the JV match, Aubree Shaffer scored a winner and Lauren Richards scored on a tip winner, but Hut-Pal raced out to a 7-2 lead. The Lions then responded with a 7-2 run of their own on 2 kills and an ace by Libby Huisinga, a combo block win by Breck Bishop and Lauren Richards, then a big kill by Bishop to tie the set at 9.
The Lady Tigers went ahead, but the Lions got a kill from Libby Huisinga to tie it up at 11, then Lauren Richards served an ace for Marshall to take a 12-11 lead. The teams tied again at 12 and 13 before Marshall inched ahead 15-13 on a Libby Huisinga serving ace. The Lions increased their lead to 19-15 when Aubrie Ockerman served an ace. The Lions maintained that margin to the end, and after getting an ace from Olivia Strohm to make the score 24-19, the Lady Tigers scored two more points before Marshall’s Aubree Shaffer scored on a tip for the Lions to win the second set 25-21, sweeping the match against Hutsonville-Palestine two sets to none.
Marshall (14-6) plays their next match this Thursday night when they host the Robinson High School Lady Maroons in a pivotal Little Illini Conference match inside McNary Gymnasium. The junior varsity match is scheduled to begin at 6:00 PM with the varsity match to follow. Come to The Mac and be loud in support of these student athletes.
Harper Richardson surprises Hutsonville-Palestine by dropping a winner over the net
Marshall's McKenzie Davis lines up a kill in the middle against Hutsonville-Palestine
Marshall's Lily Shotts serves an ace at match point for the Lions to complete the sweep of Hut-Pal
Lilly Ross smashes a kill down the line against Hutsonville-Palestine
