They definitely accomplished that goal, beating Marquette 18-25, 25-19, 25-12, 25-20.

The Titans used a balanced offensive attack and a strong third set to eliminate Marquette 3-1 and move on to the district final.

“Honestly, what helped with us is actually playing aggressive,” TCW head coach Emily Baumann said. “When we start letting up, and we start tipping and low shotting and not playing our strong hitting aggressive game, that’s when we start falling back.

“We’re not as like full throttle and we don’t have the energy and the intensity, then we just kind of take a seat back and the other team starts taking over.

Marquette's Seiler Hruska dives while attempting a dig against Traverse City West in the third set of their MHSAA Division 1 high school volleyball district tournament match held at the Barb Crill Gymnasium in Marquette on Wednesday. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. Jarvinen)

“So when we tell ourselves we’re going hard and we’re gonna play aggressive and we’re gonna swing, that’s when we play strong.”

Becky Lane led the Titans with 19 kills, while Makenna Ebling had 13 and Alaina Mikowski 10. Sara Schermerhorn made 48 assists to help the offensive attack, while Ally McKenna finished with 27 digs and Leah Allen had four blocks.

For Marquette, it was a tough way to go out as the Redettes kept up with the Titans through most of the match and even won the first set, but it wasn’t enough.

“They (the Titans) started passing better in the second and third sets, which helped them offensively,” Redettes head coach Ann Crandell-Williams said. “They kind of started playing more offensively aggressive in that second set, and I think it took us a little while to adjust to that.

“We just kept having to make defensive adjustments and we knew going into this that if we wanted to play with them, it was gonna be a slugfest. We knew we were gonna have to take some and we also knew we were gonna have to hand some out.

“I’m so proud of the way these girls played. I just think that we kind of showed the world today that we’re capable at playing at that level.”

Seiler Hruska was the Redettes offensive star with 16 kills and three aces, while Maria Millado added 15 kills and Katelyn Dunleavy had 39 assists. Hruska also had 23 digs and Millado 12 blocks.

The opening set was a tight one with the two teams trading points for the majority of it, but then Marquette started to pull away. The Redettes went on an 8-0 run, including three kills from Millado and an ace from Roxy Nelson to take a 23-15 lead before closing it out.

The second set started the same way, but this time, the Titans found a groove. TCW picked up four straight points to go up 15-10. Later in the set, the Titans got a kill from Ebling to take a six-point lead at 23-17 and then won the set on a Marquette service error.

TCW didn’t waste any time in the third set as it got six straight points to take a 7-1 advantage, while an ace from Schermerhorn put the Titans up 12-2. The Redettes pulled within six of the Titans at 12-6 thanks to an ace from Millado, but TCW stayed fairly comfortably ahead for the rest of the set, ending it on a kill from Lane.

In need of a win in the fourth set to stay alive, Marquette fought back and traded points with the Titans before going up 18-15 on a Hruska ace. However, TCW wouldn’t be denied as it answered back with a 9-0 run to take a 24-18 lead.

Ryan Stieg can be reached at 906-228-2590, ext. 252. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.