Trojans bounce Lady Warriors
The Marion High School varsity girls' volleyball team faced a formidable foe when they walked into Marion Gymnasium Tuesday night.
The visiting Hillsboro Trojan team was undefeated and ranked #1 in Class 3-A by the Kansas Volleyball Association.
In the first match, Hillsboro lived up to its ranking. The Trojans steadily pulled away from the Warriors in the first game, never seriously challenged in winning 25-12.
The second game the Warriors received the full brunt of Hillsboro's offensive prowess. Trojan seniors Julianne Chisholm and Tina Frick consistently nailed blistering spikes to overwhelm Marion 25-4.
After the intervening junior varsity match, the Marion spikers returned to the court sporting new uniforms and a new attitude.
"They decided that maybe this time let's just go out there and do what Marion wants to do, not what Hillsboro wants," said Marion head coach LeAnn Blaesi.
While Hillsboro won the first game 25-16, the play of the Warrior squad was noticeably sharper.
Buoyed by an enthusiastic crowd, the final game of the match was the most closely contested of the evening. Playing well early but then falling behind 20-10, Marion rallied behind the strong net play of Kari Tajchman and Julia Zeiner. The Warriors closed the gap to within four points before surrendering the game and match 25-20.
"It was beautiful the way they played the second match. They were in it, they were pumped, they were excited," said Blaesi.
Hesston Dual Match
Marion High School volleyballers demonstrated continuing progress at the varsity level when they hosted Hesston this past Tuesday, even though they dropped both matches.
The first match was competitive throughout, with the Lady Warriors bouncing back from an opening game 25-19 loss to claim a 25-21 victory in the second game. Hesston took advantage of Marion miscues in the third game to salt away the match win with a 25-16 game victory.
In the first game of the second match the Lady Swathers mowed down the Marion team 25-12.
Once again, however, Marion showedresilience by making the second game a hotly contested one, pushing it to the last point before succumbing 26-24.
Marion head coach LeAnn Blaesi singled out Julia Zeiner and Kayley Heerey for strong performances, and noted "When the team is 'on' we really compete well."
Hesston C Tournament
The MHS C team had a strong showing in the nine-team Hesston Invitational Freshman Tournament, taking third place in Thursday evening action.
In pool play, Marion compiled a 1-1 match record with a solid win against Hutchinson Trinity 22-20, 21-13, but dropping their match against Hesston 21-18, 21-13.
This was good enough to move the Lady Warriors into the opening round of the championship bracket, where they had little trouble in dispatching Canton-Galva 21-17, 21-11.
Marion matched up with a talented and athletic Moundridge squad in the semifinals. The Lady Railers controlled both games to win the match 21-10, 21-15.
The Lady Warriors drew Halstead in the consolation match and put on their most dominant performance of the evening. Marion won the first game 21-16, generating momentum that led them to crush Halstead 21-9 in the second game and claim third place.
"I'm really proud of the girls," Blaesi said. "When the girls got down on themselves, they were able to build themselves back up."
