Back on track

Back on track

Marion pounces in Paragould

Sports Editor PARAGOULD — It took nearly two sets for Marion to get on track last night, but once they did, it was a sight to behold.

Fresh off its first loss of the 2016 season on Tuesday night at Valley View, Marion lost a late 23-21 lead in the initial set at Paragould, to lose that stanza, 25-23, it’s fourth consecutive set loss.

Marion responded by breaking open a late 20-20 tie in the second set for a 25-23 win in the second set before hitting its stride and winning the match in sets three and four, winning each by identical scores of 25-9.

The Lady Pats are now 4-1 overall and in the 6A/5AEast. It was the end of one of Marion’s two weeks featuring three games.

“I thought we should have won the first game. I was honestly kind of disappointed with how we came out in the first one,” said Marion head coach Lisa Beasley, a Paragould native. “But, to our credit, we stepped up and started doing what we needed to do to win the game.”

It was the first full game that Marion was playing without senior middle and setter Ally Bramucci, a three-year starter for the team. Bramucci left the Valley View match with an ankle injury.

“After that loss on Tuesday, we really needed to come back, and I think we did so really well,” said senior Gabi Catt. “It was hard in the first set, because we had an all-new lineup and we were still getting used to it, especially during the game, but I think we did.”

That first set saw Paragould as the aggressor early on as the hosts hit Marion with an early 6-1 run to force a Lady Pats timeout.

Marion would eventually get back into the mix, in a set that featured six total ties. The Lady Pats scored five straight points to break a score that was knotted at 14-all that was highlighted by kills from Catt and senior Sarah Burford, as well as a pair of aces from junior Carly Russell.

The set moved quickly into the latter stages as a kill by senior Annalee Parker gave Marion a 23-21 lead.

However, Paragould benefited from a pair of doubletap calls on Marion, as well as a block at the net and a kill to score the final four points to steal a 25-23 win, much to the delight of the Paragould student section and the assembled pep band in the Paragould gym.

The Lady Rams carried that momentum right into the second set, scoring the first three points of that stanza.

That’s when Parker left her fingerprints on three straight points as Marion scored on a kill from the Murray State commit. On the following play, Parker barely got to a ball that looked to be bound for the scorer’s table to keep the play alive, and then she completed the romp by serving an ace.

Marion took its first lead of the set at 9-8 on a kill from senior Sara Betts and when Catt served aces on consecutive points, the Lady Pats led 11-8, which forced a Paragould timeout. The Lady Pats led 20-15 late in the set again, but Paragould scored the next five points to tie the game.

Down the stretch, it was Marion’s seniors that stepped up to even the score as Catt came up with a kill, followed by Burford, and a Betts kill that came to pass after senior Hope Phipps dug out a ball that appeared to be ticketed for the floor, but wound up as the winning point for the Lady Pats.

“I just felt like, with one senior out, then it was up to the rest of us seniors to come through, because we really needed this win,” Catt explained following the game.

Almost as though the first two tight sets were something of a wake-up call, Marion found a different gear in the last two sets of the match. The Lady Pats outscored the Lady Rams 50-18 in the two sets, which never seemed to be in any doubt.

The fourth set was highlighted by a stretch of Marion scoring 20 of the 23 points tallied, which erased an early 4-2 Paragould advantage, and ended with Marion 22-7.

While Phipps’ defense was the story in the first two sets, it was her service game that opened eyes in set number three. With Marion ahead 10-6 following a pair of Betts kills off of Catt assists, Phipps toed the service line and promptly fired off four aces during a run of 12 straight Marion points.

“Phenomenal,” said Beasley of her three-year libero. “Anytime you can get back there and hold the serve that long, in that rotation, that means that we’re holding momentum and they’re losing it.”

The Lady Pats took a tenpoint advantage following a Parker kill and junior Lillian Fogleman would post the last score of the set by handing out an ace of her own for a 25-9 win, and a 2-1 Marion lead.

Marion scored the first four points of the fourth set, and eventually roared to an 8-1 lead following a Parker kill, which forced a Paragould timeout.

Later on, a Marion 5-0 spurt was keyed on by two more aces served from Russell, and kills by Parker and Betts off of sets from Fogleman as Bramucci’s replacements became difference- makers on the road. Burford came up with a kill and a pair of aces during a 4-0 Marion run and Parker and Catt carried Marion home by posting kills on their team’s last four points for another 25-9 set win, that clinched the match, as well.

Marion will play West Memphis at Lehr Arena on Tuesday night, as the 7thgrade match will begin at 4:30 p.m. The Lady Pats then host Blytheville on Thursday night with a junior high junior varsity match beginning at 5 p.m.

By Chuck Livingston