Article and photos by T Ray Henry
On Saturday, September 5th, the Marshall High School volleyball team traveled to Robinson High School to play in the Robinson Invitational tournament, an 8-team, all-day event with pool play throughout the morning and afternoon, followed by crossover matches where teams that finished pool play in the same position in the standings play one another to determine tournament placing. The matches were best-of-three, with the first two sets of each match going to 25 points and the third and deciding set going to 15.
Marshall was assigned to Pool B alongside Oblong, South Knox (IN), and Lawrenceville. Pool A was comprised of Robinson, Martinsville (IL), North Central (IN), and North Knox (IN).
For the Lions, the team had a very productive day on the court, finishing 2-1 in pool play. Marshall, South Knox, and Lawrenceville each finished with a record of 2-1 after beating up on one another and each defeating Oblong. The Lions, which went to three sets in each of their matches in pool play in defeating Oblong and South Knox before coming up just short to Lawrenceville, came out on top in the three-way tiebreaker to win their pool, so they were placed in the championship match against Robinson. South Knox finished second in Pool B, followed by Lawrenceville and Oblong. In Pool A, Robinson went undefeated to take the top spot after round-robin action, followed by Martinsville, North Knox, and North Central.
In the championship match, a battle-tested Lions squad went up against the host school in what essentially was a home game for the Maroons. Marshall had already played the maximum number of sets in the tournament by going the distance in each of their matches, so the question was whether they had any gas left in the tank for a Robinson squad that had what appeared on paper and in person a less strenuous path to the final. Marshall played its matches against Oblong, a team the Lions hadn’t beaten in this tournament since 2022, a 14th ranked team (2A) from the state of Indiana in South Knox, and a 7-win Lawrenceville team whose only losses during the first month of the season came at the hands of IHSA Class 1A #5 Fairfield and 2A #7 Carmi-White County. One would never insinuate a “stack the deck” scenario, but whomever came out of Pool B on top earned their way to the championship round of this tournament. As it is said in sports as in life, Iron sharpens Iron, and running through a gauntlet of tough opponents is what you want to see where your team stands at this early stage in the season because it will prepare a squad for next month’s state tournament.
In the championship match, Marshall came away with the title by defeating Robinson in straight sets 25-19 and 25-22 to win the 2026 Robinson Invitational. Interestingly, every team in Pool B defeated their opponent in Pool A in the crossover placement matches (Marshall over Robinson for the championship, South Knox over Martinsville for third place, Lawrenceville over North Knox for fifth place, and Oblong over North Central for seventh place).
In their opening match against Oblong, Marshall came out of the gate on fire, overwhelming the Panthers 25-8 in the first set. The Lions jumped out to a 6-0 lead as Harper Richardson had a kill, a tip winner, two aces, and Lilly Ross and McKenzie Davis combined on two blocks for points. Lilly Ross won with a tip before McKenzie Davis served consecutive aces, then Lilly Ross scored again with a kill to give the Lions a 12-3 lead. Ali Sheets then stepped up to the line, and the Lions dominated play with an ace by Sheets, a kill by Ross, a combination block by Ross and Ellie Delp, followed by a kill by Delp as Marshall rang off four straight points to take a 16-4 lead.
A kill by Lilly Ross, followed by an ace served by Ellie Delp, a kill by Harper Richadson, a big block for a point by Richardson and Lily Shotts, an ace served by Libby Huisinga, and an emphatic kill by Richardson at set point gave Marshall the first set 25-8. In the set, Oblong never served more than two consecutive times, and in the entire set, the Panthers served the ball a total of 9 times.
In the second set against Oblong, the two sides went back and forth the entire way in a very competitive manner. With the outcome still in doubt and the score tied at 23, Harper Richardson scored a critical ace to put the Lions one point away from winning the match in straight sets, but the Panthers scored three straight points to win the second set 26-24.
A kill by Lilly Ross, a tip winner by Harper Richardson, and an ace served by Ali Sheets highlighted a 9-2 Marshall run to begin the third set. Oblong never threatened the rest of the way as Lilly Ross and Harper Richardson each scored at the net, Lilly Ross served two aces, and Lily Shotts scored a winner at match point to propel Marshall to a 15-7 third set win to take the match 2-1.
In match #2 versus South Knox, points scored by Harper Richardson and Lauren English helped the Lions keep pace with the young and talented Spartans who next year will be one of the top ranked teams in Indiana. Scores by Richardson, McKenzie Davis, and Lilly Ross, combined with great digs and passing by Lauren English, Nya Engledow, and Ali Sheets, kept the Lions even with their opponent, and Lily Shotts and Libby Huisinga were very active at the net. With the score all tied up at 24, South Knox scored a point to go up 25-24 and serving for the opening set. At this juncture, Marshall’s Lilly Ross dominated the Spartans at the net with two straight kills to put the Lions on top 26-25. McKenzie Davis served the next point, and a huge block by Lilly Ross and Lily Shotts won the point as well as the first set over South Knox 27-25. During the Spartans’ 7-match winning streak leading up to this match, they had only lost a total of 5 sets while winning 20.
In the second set against South Knox, another back-and-forth barn burner came down to the finish. With the score tied at 23, the Spartans scored the next two points to win the set 25-23 to set up a third and deciding set.
South Knox raced out of the blocks in the third set by taking a 9-1 lead, putting the team from Indiana just six points away from winning the match. Marshall, however, had different plans as they mounted an epic comeback, outscoring South Knox 10-2 to tie it up at 11. During the comeback, a tip winner and block by Harper Richardson, a kill by Lauren English, a combo block by English and Lilly Ross for a point, an ace served by Ross, and a big kill by Richardson gave the Lions hope and renewed life. A tense seesaw battle brought the set back to a tie at 12 and 13 before a winning strike by Richardson gave Marshall a 14-13 lead. Libby Huisinga then stepped up and served an ace to give the Lions a hard fought, come from behind win over South Knox 15-13 in the third set and winning the match two sets to one.
In their third match of the day against Lawrenceville, the Lions still competed hard after an emotionally charged win over a ranked team in South Knox in their prior match and then eating lunch. The Lions were running on adrenaline in the opening set as they defeated the Indians 25-19. They had a great chance to win the second set when Harper Richardson scored a kill to give the Lions a 24-23 lead, but Lawrenceville scored three straight points to win the set 26-24 to send the match to a third set. In the third set, Marshall got a kill from Lilly Ross to get the Lions within one point at 13-12, but once again Lawrenceville scored the final points to win the set 15-12 and win the match two sets to one.
Faced with a tie-breaking scenario among three teams on Pool B (Marshall, South Knox, and Lawrenceville) all finishing tied for first place, the tiebreaker went to a calculation of point differential. Marshall was awarded first place, while South Knox finished second and Lawrenceville finished third.
In the championship match against Robinson, the Lions looked rejuvenated against the Maroons in the opening set as Marshall jumped out to a 14-5 lead. Two kills by Lilly Ross, one kill by Harper Richardson, a winner by Libby Huisinga, and two aces served by Ross were just the start. With the score 10-5 in favor of the Lions, Libby Huisinga served four consecutive aces to give Marshall a 14-5 advantage. From that point on, Robinson could not get within fewer than four points, and Marshall kept the hosts at a safe distance to win the opening set by the score of 25-19.
In set #2, Marshall went wire to wire just as they did in set #1. This time, a Harper Richardson kill gave the Lions a 13-5 lead, and even though the Maroons got the set within one point at 23-22, a Lilly Ross tip winner and an unforced error by Robinson ended the set with Marshall winning by the score of 25-22 as the Lions won the championship match two sets to one.
Tournament Statistical Highlights
Aces: Davis 8; Ross, Huisinga, Delp 7; Richardson, Sheets 6
Kills: Richardson 41, Ross 39
Assists: Richardson 44, Ross 40
Blocks: Ross 8, Huisinga 4, Richardson 3
Digs: Sheets 37, Richardson 36, Ross 20
Marshall (5-2) has a busy week ahead of them. On Monday, September 7th, the Lions travel to Cumberland. On Tuesday the 8th, they travel to Oblong for a rematch with the Panthers (the game was moved to the air conditioning inside Oblong Elementary School), then on Thursday the 10th they travel to Mount Carmel for the LIC Conference opener. This Saturday, Marshall will travel to Shelbyville High School to play five matches in the Shelbyville Volleyball Tournament.
Lily Shotts (7) and Harper Richardson (3) get ready for McKenzie Davis' serve during the Rpbinson Invitational
Lilly Ross goes up high over the net to score a kill against Lawrenceville
Harper Richardson hits a laser through the block at the Robinson tournament
Libby Huisinga strikes a score with a kill against Indiana Class 2A ranked South Knox