Cheyenne East seniors and twins Ashley Marshall, right, and Hailey Marshall, 17, pose for a photo Friday, Aug. 28, 2020, inside East High. Michael Cummo/Wyoming Tribune Eagle
The twins are entering the season hoping to become a dominant duo for the Cheyenne East volleyball team. With Hailey being the Lady Thunderbirds’ premier outside hitter and Ashley setting Hailey up for kills, the two can let their twin telepathy shine.
“Ashley and I have waited our whole high school volleyball career for her to set me,” Hailey Marshall said. “She set for me in eighth grade, but it didn’t really count, and finally this year she gets to be my setter, so I’m really excited about that.”
The Marshall twins are two of the returners from an East team that dominated the state and conference during the regular season last fall before ultimately losing to Thunder Basin in the semifinals of last year’s Class 4A state tournament. The T-Birds went on to defeat Riverton in the third-place contest.
This season, there’s a feeling of confidence and optimism that Hailey and Ashley can help lead East to another dominant regular season, but with a different outcome at the Casper Events Center in November.
“This year, our team feels like we’re a lot more connected, and there’s a lot more chemistry,” Ashley Marshall said. “Our biggest issue last year was we weren’t able to stay composed. We’d start out the match and win the first game, but we’d always, always lose the second game.”
Expectations are higher for a team that feels more confident heading into this season. For Hailey and Ashley, those expectations are putting them in a position to lead the team.
“They’re becoming my captains this year, and I’m really encouraging them to step up and gather the team together on the court,” East coach Nicole Quigley said. “Both of them will play all the way around, so they’ll be on the court at all times, and I’m looking forward to them leading the way.”
Hailey knows she’s going to need to become a better leader this season, and she’s anxious to inherit that role. Something she knows she needs to work on to become a better leader is getting better at communicating on the court.
With Hailey having her twin nearby at almost all times during a match, there’s a level of comfort that will make it easier to communicate with the rest of the team.
Toward the end of their sophomore season, Ashley tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee. Hailey knew that the two of them being on the court together was better for Ashley’s return from injury.
“I know it was nice for me to be there for Ashley and support her when she came back,” Hailey said. “And it was nice to have Ashley back, because I definitely feel more comfortable playing when she’s on the court.
“I’m really hard on myself, and if I make a mistake, she’s there to help me move on to the next play.”
There’s that level of comfort that only twins can understand. The comfort is beneficial on the court, and could even make the team better as a whole. Siblings – and especially twins – have a certain bond, but there’s also that certain competitiveness that lingers.
“We’re always very competitive with each other,” Ashley said. “It’s always something when we get home from volleyball, she’s always like, ‘Well, I had more kills than you,’ and I’ll be like, ‘Well, I had more aces than you,’ and that’s just how it goes between us.”
The competitive nature, the bond, the comfort between the two creates a great connection on the court, a connection that could lead the Lady Thunderbirds on a run to a state title this season.
It’s an opportunity of a lifetime for the twins, and the excitement can’t be overlooked.
“Before we even started open gym, they came up to me and asked if Ashley could set for Hailey this year,” Quigley said. “They just have a good overall connection, they understand each other, and they trust each other’s abilities.
“This year, they’ll have the opportunity to connect that way, and they seem pretty excited about it.”
Robert Munoz is a writer for WyoSports. He can be reached at rmunoz@wyosports.net.
