‘Final Four!’

‘Final Four!’

Marion makes seventh straight semifinal

Sports Editor PEARCY — Nobody will ever accuse Marion senior volleyball player Gabi Catt of not being vocal enough, but her words following her team’s quarterfinal win against Benton at Wolf Arena rang particularly loudly.

“This is when it’s time to really step up and play your best,” said the senior.

Marion was sharp in dispatching the Lady Panthers in advancing to their seventh consecutive Class 6A state semifinal, slipping their Class 6A-West counterparts 25-17, 25-14 and 25-15.

The Lady Pats will look to continue their title defense today when they play Russellville at 3 p.m. in the second semifinal of the day. The 1 p.m. semifinal will feature Jonesboro and Greenwood.

“Benton has such a great program and has had so much success through the years that any win against them is a big deal,” explained veteran Marion head coach Lisa Beasley following the match. “I thought we were really ready to play and we executed well tonight.”

Benton (26-12-2) was fresh off of a first-round win against Jacksonville on Tuesday evening, but Marion showed little-to-no rust in their first tournament action. The Lady Pats (34-3 overall) scored 5 of the first 6 points of the set to jump out to an early advantage.

When Catt (2 aces, 2 kills, team-high 17 assists, 6 digs) served an ace, Marion led 10-5, which forced a Benton timeout.

Catt would help spark another run later on when she set junior Destiny King (5 kills) and senior Sara Betts (team-high 11 kills, 2 digs) on consecutive plays before Catt hooked Betts up again for a 17-5 lead.

Senior Annalee Parker (5 kills, team-high 11 digs) would tally kills on two plays in a row and Ally Bramucci (team-high 4 aces, 5 kills, 13 assists, 6 digs) would hand out an ace and a kill to get Marion to a 20-11 lead, before Betts posted the final point of the set on a kill.

Benton would score first in the second set, and that point would represent one of Benton’s only two leads of the evening for the Lady Panthers as Marion would rally to score the next 3 points, 2 on Kills by Betts, and an ace from senior Hope Phipps (team-high 11 digs).

King and Bramucci would post kills on consecutive plays and Bramucci would add an ace for a 10-4 Marion lead, which again forced a Lady Panther timeout.

Senior Sarah Burford (3 aces, 6 kills, 9 digs) would score on a tip, followed by a Bramucci ace and Marion led 15-7 in the second set. The Lady Pats would take double Benton up at 20-10 following a kill from Catt and a Burford ace, and a pair of Benton hitting errors would clinch the second set for Marion at 25-14.

Benton would score the first two points of the third set as the Lady Panthers tried to circle the wagons, but there was too much Marion down the stretch.

Burford would post a kill on an assist from Bramucci and Bramucci would hand out an ace for a 5-2 lead.

Three points later, Parker would take advantage of a Benton freeball and post a kill for a 7-3 bulge, which Burford would follow with an ace, which Catt would follow with a kill of her own.

Down the stretch, Parker would account for Marion’s final three points, two on kills and one on a re-routed stuff at the net.

Marion’s senior group has been to the state semifinals all three seasons that they have been part of the varsity squad, and if they get past Russellville today, then they will make their third consecutive state final.

“That’s pretty special, to be honest,” Beasley said.

“Marion will play Russellville today at Wolf Arena at 3 p.m. If they win, then they will play the winner of the Jonesboro-Greenwood game on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. at Bank of the Ozarks Arena in Hot Springs.

By Chuck Livingston