Marion cleans it up, sweeps Wynne

Marion cleans it up, sweeps Wynne

Parker’s punt capitalizes Lady Pat road win

Sports Editor WYNNE — Marion senior Annalee Parker broke back on a ball, as though she’d done probably thousands of times in her life.

The Murray State commit must have realized that she was going to just miss this one, so she did what anyone in her position would have done: She kicked it into the ceiling of Yellowjacket Arena in Wynne.

The play was a light-hearted incident in one of Marion’s (17-1 overall, 101 6A/5A-East) most impressive wins over the past few weeks as the Lady Pats reeled off victories of 25-15, 25-10 and 25-14.

“I think it was pretty funny,” said the outgoing Marion senior. “It was a nice energy release for everybody, I think.”

Parker posted 2 kills and 8 digs as she continued her sensational senior season for Marion, but after her kicking debut, the question was asked if she was looking at a side career as a kicker or punter after volleyball ends. “Hey, if coach (Jed) Davis wants to give me a shot, I’m all for it,” said Parker with a laugh.

Marion won its 14th straight game, dating back to a loss to Valley View on August 30th, and with that rematch looming six days from now, Marion head coach Lisa Beasley was happy to see how her team responded in its second game in as many nights, and the fashion in which they won.

“I’m really proud of how we performed tonight. I thought we cut our errors way, way back,” said the veteran Marion head coach. “Everything tonight was better and sharper, it seemed. To win in three, especially on the road, that’s not a bad thing.”

Marion completed a season sweep of Wynne on the volleyball court, after topping Greene County Tech at home last night. The Lady Pats travel to play Forrest City on Thursday evening, its second and final conference tripleheader of the season.

The Lady Pats wasted little to no time notching its latest road victory as Marion’s five first points in the opening set came in succession for a 5-2 lead. Kills by Sara Betts (team-high 8 kills, 2 assists and 4 digs) and an ace from Sarah Burford (2 aces, 6 kills, 2 digs) highlighted that spurt.

However, Wynne pushed back and got within 14-11 midway through the set.

That set the stage for a 6-0 Marion run that ultimately decided the opener.

That stretch was highlighted by senior Gabi Catt’s (tied for team-high with 3 aces, 5 kills, team-high 15 assists and 6 digs) infections energy as Marion’s number 17 came up with an athletic block at the net and finished the play with a kill off of a free ball, and two aces.

Burford played closer for Marion in the first set, posting kills on the last two points for the Lady Pats to clinch the 25-15 win.

The break in between sets did little to slow Marion’s momentum as the Lady Pats scored the first five points of set number two, and nine of the first 11. Sara Betts put down 3 kills during that run, while Marion handed out 3 aces as a team, 1 from Hope Phipps (1 ace served, teamhigh 10 digs) and 2 from Ally Bramucci (tied for team-high 3 aces, 4 kills, 9 assists and 2 digs).

Burford got into the ace game by posting both of her game total on consecutive plays, which gave Marion a 13-3 lead.

Junior Destiny King posted one of her 4 kills to help Marion win the race to 20 points for a 20-9 lead and Marion would win 25-10.

A fast start was once again in the cards for Marion in the third and deciding set. The visitors took early leads of 3-1 and 6-2, but Wynne would tie the set at 6-all early on.

Wynne would score a tie at 12 apiece, as well, but that’s when Marion put together a decisive run to clinch the win. A Burford kill sparked a 9-0 run, and a stretch of 13 of 15 points to run out with the win.

Betts would account for 3 kills in that run, while Catt scored on a tip ahead of kills by Bramucci and Parker.

Marion won every set by 10 points or more, another fact that Beasley was sure to enjoy.

“I told them that I wanted us to work on not giving multiple points after a timeout,” said the coach. “I also wanted to cut back on our serving errors. I thought we played a lot better. I thought we looked a lot happier too.”

Those sentiments were backed by Parker.

“I felt pretty good about how we played, for sure,” says the senior. “I thought we played really, really hard. I think everybody meshed really well and we had a really good time.”

Also victorious was Marion’s junior varsity, who got team-high totals of 3 aces from Maggie Aureli, 6 kills from Carly Russell, 7 assists from Lillian Fogleman, and 3 digs from Russell and Caroline Brinkley.

Sarah Thompson served 2 aces, posted a kill and got to 2 digs, while Sammi Kelley added 2 digs of her own. Claire Moncrief added 2 kills and 3 assists.

Marion returns home for their rematch with defending Class 5A state champion Valley View on Tuesday, September 27th. The 7thgrade match will begin at 4:30 p.m.

By Chuck Livingston