Marion claims win in West Memphis

Marion claims win in West Memphis Lady Pats win second straight

Sports Editor

A sluggish first set gave way to a sharp last two as Marion downed West Memphis last night at Lehr Arena.

The Lady Pats moved to 5-1 overall and in the 6A/5A-East after beating West Memphis 25-13, 2513 and 25-9. The Lady Blue Devils are now 3-4 overall and 2-4 in the 6A/5A-East.

Despite the win, Marion head coach Lisa Beasley wasn’t thrilled with her team’s execution in the earlygoing.

“I’m happy to get a win, but I’m not pleased with our performance,” Beasley explained. “We played pretty sloppy at times, and we usually don’t do that.”

In fact, the first set was nearly too close for comfort for Beasley’s bunch.

Marion led 11-4 following a kill from junior Carly Russell, but West Memphis rallied back with a 3-0 spurt of their own highlighted by a kill from sophomore Anna Nelson and an ace from Tommy Grace Prater.

Another Prater ace got West Memphis within 1513, but Marion responded with a 5-0 run of their own as senior Sarah Burford came through with a pair of aces and a kill during the run to stake her team to a 20-13 advantage and Burford got the Lady Pats to 24-19 with a kill, thanks to an assist from classmate Gabi Catt. Burford finished with six kills, three aces served and eight digs, while Catt posted a teamhigh nine kills, six digs and 11 assists.

“We started out with good energy,” said West Memphis head coach Erin Neeley. “We were up, we were cheering each other. I felt like we came together as a team, but as soon as they got a few points ahead, our attitudes changed and our faces dropped. We were looking for that one big momentum play, and we just didn’t get it.”

Marion broke out to a 6-2 bulge early in the second set as senior Arkansas State commit posted three kills and junior Lillian Fogleman served a pair of aces. Betts had six kills, while Fogleman served two aces, got to three digs and handed out a teamhigh 19 assists.

That stretch was followed by senior Annalee Parker, a Murray State commit, coming up with kills on four consecutive Marion points to stake her squad to an 11-6 lead. Parker finished with a team-high 18 digs, while her eight kills were good for second.

West Memphis got within 16-12 when senior Rileigh Smith posted a kill, but a hitting error by the Lady Blue Devils gave Marion senior Hope Phipps the ball and the serve and the scrappy Lady Pats libero stayed there for seven straight points, highlighted by aces on three straight points, and four out of five in a row. Phipps posted 17 digs and a team-high four aces. Junior Carly Russell closed the 25-13 win out with one of her two kills.

Defense dominated in the third set for Marion as the visitors didn’t allow West Memphis to score two consecutive points until they already led 17-4.

Junior Destiny King had a hand in four straight Marion points when she blocked a West Memphis kill at the net, came up with two kills and also set Burford for a kill of her own. King had three kills and two assists against West Memphis.

West Memphis was able to push back late with five points in seven attempts, highlighted by a pair of kills from Reagan Rushing, a block by Adara Russell and a pair of kills by Shelby Nix. Rushing finished with two kills, Russell a block and Nix had a team-high three kills. Catt and Burford gave Marion a 20-9 lead when they teamed up on a block and Catt posted kills on back-to-back plays for a 23-9 lead before Marion closed out the win.

Marion will host Blytheville on Thursday night beginning at 5 p.m., while West Memphis travels to play Wynne.

By Chuck Livingston