Warriors slay Dragons
Sports reporter
Not a bad start for the girls on the bikes.
Marion High School Warriors volleyball team began Mid-Central Activities Association play Sept. 14 with two road victories against the Halstead Dragons.
Senior Leann Thomas led Marion with 14 kills in the two matches, improving the Warriors to 2-0 in the MCAA and 8-7 overall.
Junior Megan Hudson added 11 kills and two errors.
"I couldn't have done that without good passing and setting," Hudson said. "Both setters played great."
Those setters would be seniors Whitney Wear and Jill Hannaford. The two switched on and off at the position, both producing effective results.
Neither one had a setting error as Wear made good on all 82 attempts and Hannaford did the same on all 19 of her attempts.
Wear had 15 assists in the two matches and Hannaford added four.
Coach Kara Chisholm said she expected Halstead to give the Warriors a challenge.
"I knew they were going to be kind of scrappy," she said.
The Dragons were just that. Their players dove all over the court, and pushed Marion to the edge in both matches.
The Warriors were just as scrappy. Hudson had one kill where she hung in the air, smacked the ball across the net, and landed on her back.
Thomas showed hustle on the winning point of game one of the second match.
She ran off the court and almost into the crowd, to not only save an errant pass, but knock it over the net for a kill. The Marion crowd and players went wild.
"That was one of those lucky shots that you just sometimes get," Chisholm said.
During game one of the first match the Warriors led 22-15, and looked poised for an opening victory. The Dragons had other ideas as they ran off 12 straight points to win, 25-22.
In game two Marion played a trademark close game, winning 27-25. Hannaford ended the game with
a service ace.
Halstead proved no match for the Warriors in the third game, as Marion won handily, 25-13. Thomas and junior Toni Gordon contributed big in the victory.
The second match started well for Marion winning another close game, 28-26.
"Sometimes I wish they wouldn't make it so close," Chisholm said. "Maybe they want to make it interesting for the fans."
Right when it looked as if Marion would put Halstead away early, the Dragons led essentially the entire second game, winning 25-20.
"We kind of go on roller coasters," Chisholm said of their up and down play. "But they do a great job of pulling themselves together."
The Warriors proved that to be true by easily defeating the Dragons 25-16 in game three. Thomas ended the match with a service ace, and gave the Warriors a 2-0 record in the MCAA, and 8-7 overall.
Senior Amber Richmond contributed with 10 kills, Gordon had nine, and senior Sarah Williams added six.
