FAIRMONT – Marshall mentor Dan Westby and his Tiger spikers certainly are no strangers to qualifying for the Minnesota State High School League’s state volleyball tournament.

In fact, the Marshall volleyball program has advanced to the Twin Cities for the final event of the season 26 times, including six state championships to its credit.

Westby’s Tigers, however, proved much more lethal than their 3-4 overall record when they stepped onto the Cardinal Gym hardwood court on Tuesday night in Fairmont.

Outside hitter Ashtin Hmielewski cranked a match-best 19 kills, setter Bria DeRuyck distributed a match-leading 30 assists and Maddie Marks served up a match-high 26 points to power Marshall to a 25-13, 25-11, 25-7 sweep over the Fairmont Cardinals.

“We don’t have as much height as we’ve had in the past, so we’ve struggled a bit early on,” said Westby. “We did have a good practice (Monday), so that’s a good sign.”

Taylor Crissinger drilled a right-side kill off one of Madison Hennager’s four set assists to inch the hometown Cardinals within one at 5-4 in the opening game before Hmielewski and the Tigers pounced.

The 5-foot-8 Hmielewski drilled a blistering cross-court kill off one of DeRuyck’s pinpoint sets to gain a sideout at 6-4. The Marshall senior outside hitter then rotated to the service line and reeled off six unanswered points, including four consecutive aces, to build a 12-4 gap.

Ironically, the 5-7 Marks rotated to the frontline and later, smacked a scorching kill off another DeRuyck loft to regain possession at 16-11.

Marks, who connected on 27 of 30 serves to complement six kills, gave the Tigers breathing room with a four-point run at 20-11. DeRuyck displayed her versatility by trading roles with Hmielewski to hammer a kill before setting up Hmielewski two plays later for a sinking liner.

Hmielewski’s sideout kill at 21-13 rotated serving specialist Erica Jones to the end line, and the sophomore reeled off four unanswered points to seal the Game 1 victory. Whitney Schwartz tallied two kills during the scoring sequence, including the game-winner.

Williams pounded two of her team-best five kills to help offset Hmielewski’s early offensive firepower to help the Cardinals trail 10-8 in Game 2.

An errant Fairmont serve, however, opened the window of opportunity for Marshall, and Marks made her mark again by lining home five consecutive points to double the Tigers’ lead to 16-8.

DeRuyck later stepped to the service area with the Tigers ahead 21-11 and served out the final four points for a two-game lead in the match. DeRuyck delivered two service aces during the short stint.

Bailee Swanson utilized a power tip down the line before Williams smacked a Hennager set for a spike-winner early in Game 3 before DeRuyck regained the momentum for Marshall.

The 5-10 senior playmaker jackhammered a Cardinal overpass to the court for a pivotal sideout at 9-6. Marks then toed the line and did not rotate until she had reeled off 14 straight points for a 23-6 margin. Hannah Bock delivered two kills and two blocks during the double-digit scoring surge, while Hmielewski blasted home three spike-winners.

DeRuyck went 9-for-9 serving with six points to complement four kills, Jones finished with 10 points behind 12-for-13 serving, while Hmielewski went 7 of 8 at the line for six points.

Swanson generated three kills and two set assists for the Cardinals.

Fairmont (5-4) hits the road to St. Peter on Thursday night. Marshall (4-4) travels to Luverne on Thursday night.

Marshall downed Fairmont in B-squad action, 25-15, 25-11, Tuesday in Fairmont.

Olivia Anderson doled out three set assists for the Cardinals, while Brenna Cutler tallied three kills and one ace block.

Blue Earth Area 3, New Ulm 0 – The Bucs swept the Eagles in straight sets, 25-16, 25-18, 25-17, to record the Big South Conference win Tuesday in New Ulm.

Sam Barslou knotched seven kills to complement nine digs, while Kaylor Jacobs tallied six kills in the win. Alissa Norman provided the Bucs with 19 set assists and served 16 times for 13 points, including three ace serves.

Sofie Blair had two ace serves with 12 serves for eight points and Maddi Oelke finished with five ace blocks for the visitors.

Blue Earth Area (7-2, 4-0) plays at Big South Conference foe Waseca at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

Martin Luther/Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman 3, Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial 0 – Hannah Johanson was one set assist shy of 1,000 career assists in the Jaguars’ 25-21, 25-17, 25-21, win over the Knights during opening Valley Conference action Tuesday in Northrop.

Johanson recorded 24 assists for 999 career assists, along with 14 digs. Alexis Brummond led the Jaguars in digs with 20, while Kenlie Pytleski had a team-high 13 kills.

Marissa Steinhaus contributed 10 digs, five ace serves and five kills to the Jaguars’ winning effort.

Martin Luther/Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman (3-3-1, 1-0) plays Madelia for a 7:30 p.m. Valley Conference tip-off Thursday in Madelia.

Martin County West 3, Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton 0 – The Mavericks coasted to consecutive game wins of 25-13, 25-19, 25-18, to leash the Bulldogs on Tuesday night in Janesville.

No individual or team statistics were reported.

Martin County West (3-1, 1-1 Valley) plays host to Mankato Loyola at 7:30 p.m. Thursday night in Trimont.