Jonesboro tops Marion for title

Jonesboro tops Marion for title

Eight- game winning streak against Jonesboro ends

Sports Editor HOT SPRINGS — The fourth time proved to be the charm for Jonesboro in Saturday’s Class 6A volleyball state title at Bank of the Ozarks Arena.

Marion (33-4 overall) was 3-0 against Jonesboro so far in 2016, including a straight-sets win against that team last Saturday in the Class 6A-East district final, but the Lady Golden Hurricane turned the tables on the Lady Pats, winning the 2016 crown 25-14, 2826 and 25-23.

“It’s always dangerous to play a team three or four times, and we saw it today,” said Marion head coach Lisa Beasley. “I thought we didn’t really play our style of ball, we were out of rhythm at times, and Jonesboro played really well. They played hard, they got their hands on everything. It just wasn’t meant to be for us today.”

The final was the last game for 8 Marion seniors, a group that was making its third consecutive appearance in the title match, winning the 2015 crown by dropping Greenwood in three straight sets.

For Sarah Burford, Sara Betts, Ally Bramucci, Annalee Parker, Gabi Catt, Hope Phipps, Maggie Aureli and Bo Triplett, Beasley could not say enough about their significance to her program and their decorated careers.

“I hate that it ended this way, but I just told them after the game that they can’t let this put any type of shadow on their careers,” Beasley explained. “They’re one of the best groups to ever play volleyball at this school. Everything that they’ve done, everything that they’ve accomplished speaks for itself. I know that it may not have ended the way that we all wanted it to, but they’ve done so much this year, more than most teams can accomplish in a season and I’m just extraordinarily proud of them.”

Despite that 3-0 season advantage, and eight straight wins against Jonesboro in all, it was the Lady Golden Hurricane that took to the floor quickly in the final.

Jonesboro erased an early 2-1 lead with a span of six straight points to go up 72.

In addition, Marion only scored three straight points once in that set, and the run got them within 11-8 thanks to an ace from Parker and a Destiny King kill.

Jonesboro pushed ahead 21-14, which forced a Marion timeout, but the stoppage did little as the Lady Golden Hurricane scored the last four points to clinch the opener.

Despite the Jonesboro win in the first set, the rest of the match was tight throughout. The second set saw Marion lead almost all the way throughout, using a 4-0 run to take an 11-9 lead. That spurt was helped by a Catt block, a Bramucci block, and two Betts kills.

Trailing 13-11, Jonesboro pieced together a run where they scored 6 out of 7 points, for a 17-14 lead.

However, Marion would rally to even the score at 18-all thanks to a pair of improbably digs by Phipps and kills from Parker, Betts and Bramucci, as well as a pair of Jonesboro errors.

Marion took the lead on two separate occasions (22-21 and 23-22) on kills by Betts and Parker, respectively, but Jonesboro tied the score at 24-all on a tip.

A Parker kill got Marion to 25-24, but Jonesboro got even again on a ball hit into the net.

Parker again posted a kill for the last Marion lead of the second set as Jonesboro posted kills on back-to-back plays before a Marion hit sailed wide and gave the Lady Golden Hurricane a 2-0 lead after a dramatic 28-26 win.

The third set was even through 8 points, and Marion took off on a 4-0 run to lead 12-8, thanks to a pair of Parker kills.

However, Jonesboro would answer with their own 4-0 bust and the second stanza would remain tied throughout in a set that featured 8 ties in all.

Marion would steal a 1917 lead when King posted a kill, but when Jonesboro scored consecutive points, Marion called for time at 19-all.

A Jonesboro kill would give them a 22-21 lead, but Betts tied the set with a kill.

The set was tied as late as 23-all, but Jonesboro responded with a kill and a block to win its 12th state volleyball title in school history.

“I have all the respect in the world for Coach (Craig) Cummings,” Beasley said. “I was honestly dreading this one for a little while. It’s hard to beat a team in the first place, but two times or three times, and in our case four times, that is difficult in itself and then you add in the fact that they’re really good, too. They’re young, they had nothing to lose, everything to play for, and they got better every, single game. And they didn’t seem to be nervous playing here, which is big for a young team like that.”

By Chuck Livingston