Beavers’ .500 Night Lifts Shelbyville Past Marshall 2-1 in Three-Set Tournament Battle

SHELBYVILLE, Ill. — Marshall pushed Shelbyville to a deciding set Saturday and had the serve-receive numbers to stay in it, but the Lions could not solve Stella Beavers at the net, falling 2-1 in tournament play on Sept. 12.

Beavers, a sophomore, delivered one of the most efficient attacking lines of the day for the Rams — 12 kills on just 20 swings with two errors, a .500 hitting percentage and a 60.0 kill rate. Every ball Shelbyville needed in the deciding set had a reliable destination, and Beavers’ 4.0 kills per set gave setters Ava Corley and Taya Wiley a target that Marshall’s single-block defense never fully accounted for.

Marshall (18-8) had its own front-row answer in senior Harper Richardson, who led all players with 13 kills while swinging 40 times, the heaviest workload in the match. Richardson also chipped in 12 assists, six digs and two aces from the service line, a full-court effort that kept the Lions within reach across all three sets.

Sophomore Lillian Ross was the most efficient hitter on the Marshall side, converting nine kills on 22 attempts for a .318 clip while leading the Lions with 14 assists and 13 digs — the kind of all-around set that typically swings a three-set match. Mckenzie Davis added six kills and six digs, and freshman Libby Huisinga took 11 swings in a varsity tournament setting, finishing with three kills.

The margin came down to efficiency and blocking. Shelbyville hit .176 as a team with 30 kills against 12 errors, while Marshall produced 32 kills but committed 16 attack errors to finish at .163. At the net, the Rams out-blocked the Lions 8-1, with senior Brielle Ko accounting for three total blocks and Corley and Beavers each adding two.

Shelbyville’s back row did not give much away, either. Brynly Rice Delgado was the Rams’ engine from the service line and the floor, scoring 16 points on 22 error-free serve attempts with three aces, adding seven kills, 13 digs and 22 serve receptions without breaking down. Corley ran the offense with 16 assists while matching Rice Delgado with 13 digs, and Debra Jones posted 13 digs of her own along with 17 receptions.

Marshall’s passing held up well enough to stay competitive — Ali Sheets handled 17 receptions with one error and Nya Engledow took 14 with one error, each contributing nine digs. The Lions simply could not match Shelbyville’s closing efficiency once the match reached a third set.

Shelbyville evens its record at 11-11. Marshall, which entered with 18 wins, drops to 18-8.

Special Notes / Event Context

Tournament match; Marshall was listed as the visiting team.

Both teams played all three sets with full rosters — nine Rams and seven Lions recorded statistics.

Game Summary

Score by Sets

Individual set scores were not included in the provided MaxPreps data; the match was decided 2-1.

Team | Sets Won | Final

Marshall Lions | 1 | 1

Shelbyville Rams | 2 | 2

Individual Statistics

MARSHALL (18-8)

KILLS: Harper Richardson 13 (40 att, 6 err, .175); Lillian Ross 9 (22 att, 2 err, .318); Mckenzie Davis 6 (18 att, 4 err, .111); Libby Huisinga 3 (11 att, 4 err, -.091); Ellie Delp 1 (6 att, .167). Team — 32 kills, 98 attempts, 16 errors, .163

ASSISTS: Lillian Ross 14 (4.7/set); Harper Richardson 12 (4.0/set); Ali Sheets 1; Mckenzie Davis 1. Team — 27

SERVING/ACES: Harper Richardson 2 aces (9 att); Ellie Delp 1 (11 att); Lillian Ross 1 (14 att); Mckenzie Davis 1 (8 att, 3 SE, 62.5%); Ali Sheets 0 (10 att); Libby Huisinga 0 (8 att). Team — 5 aces. Points: Ross 9, Delp 6, Richardson 4, Sheets 4, Huisinga 3, Davis 2

DIGS: Lillian Ross 13 (4.3/set); Nya Engledow 9; Ali Sheets 9; Ellie Delp 7; Harper Richardson 6; Mckenzie Davis 6; Libby Huisinga 4. Team — 54

BLOCKS: Lillian Ross 1 block assist. Team — 1

SERVE RECEIVE: Ali Sheets 17 (1 err); Nya Engledow 14 (1 err); Mckenzie Davis 10; Harper Richardson 4; Lillian Ross 3 (1 err); Ellie Delp 2

SHELBYVILLE (11-11)

KILLS: Stella Beavers 12 (20 att, 2 err, .500); Brynly Rice Delgado 7 (28 att, 3 err, .143); Avery Bland 4 (18 att, 4 err, .000); Ava Corley 3 (10 att, .300); Brielle Ko 2 (13 att, 2 err, .000); Meiya Thompson 2 (7 att, .286). Team — 30 kills, 102 attempts, 12 errors, .176

ASSISTS: Ava Corley 16 (5.3/set); Taya Wiley 10 (3.3/set); Debra Jones 2. Team — 28

SERVING/ACES: Brynly Rice Delgado 3 aces (22 att, 0 err, 100.0%), 16 points; Addi Wallis 1 (7 att, 85.7%); Debra Jones 1 (6 att, 66.7%); Brielle Ko 1 (5 att, 80.0%); Ava Corley 0 (9 att, 100.0%), 4 points; Taya Wiley 0 (8 att, 87.5%); Meiya Thompson 0 (3 att). Team — 6 aces

DIGS: Brynly Rice Delgado 13 (4.3/set); Ava Corley 13; Debra Jones 13; Piper Duckett 4; Avery Bland 4; Brielle Ko 4; Meiya Thompson 4; Stella Beavers 3; Taya Wiley 2. Team — 60

BLOCKS: Brielle Ko 3 (1 solo, 2 assists); Ava Corley 2 (1 solo, 1 assist); Stella Beavers 2 (1 solo, 1 assist); Meiya Thompson 1 solo. Team — 8

SERVE RECEIVE: Brynly Rice Delgado 22 (1 err, 7.3/set); Debra Jones 17 (0 err); Piper Duckett 8 (2 err); Avery Bland 4 (2 err); Ava Corley 1