Warriors win two
Sports reporter
It was a near perfect night Oct. 2 for Marion High School volleyball team at Halstead as the Warriors defeated Wichita Collegiate and Halstead, losing its only match to rival Hillsboro.
After defeating Wichita Collegiate for the first time in four tries this season, 25-17, 25-17, head coach Jim Versch was pleased with his players.
"[They] were beginning to click," he said, "playing like a team, covering well on defense, talking, being aggressive."
The Warriors had played close to Collegiate all season, and on this night they finally put it all together.
"It was a relief to finally beat a team I felt we should have crushed each time," Versch said.
The coached attributed most of the success to big hits from sophomores Kayley Heerey and Julia Zeiner, and senior Kristen Waner. However, the victory came with a price, as setter-turned hitter Austin Percell sprained her ankle early in the match and did not return.
Kimber Hardey and Kristen Steinborn filled in for Percell, and Versch said they "competed very well."
Hillsboro was Marion's second opponent, and despite having momentum, the Warriors lost 25-11, 25-18.
"We really didn't show up in the first game, but began to compete in the second game," Versch said.
According to Versch, shaky defense and poor serving hurt the Warriors the most, but he liked what he saw from Heerey, Waner, and Lindsay Hett up front.
"We did block well," he said. "In fact I know we surprised them a couple of times with blocks on hits they thought were kills. We just needed to do this sooner in the match."
After the Hillsboro loss, the Warriors bounced back to defeat the host Blue Dragons and improve their Mid-Central Activities Association record to 3-3.
On Halstead senior night, the crowd was rocking, and Versch said he felt his team may have been rattled a little at the start as they dropped the first game, 25-18.
However, MHS battled back behind strong kills by Heerey and Zeiner, and a devastating jump-serve from Heerey, to win the next two games, 25-22, 25-16.
Hett, who replaced Percell as the setter position, set up her hitters perfectly according to Versch. It was part of a new 5-1 offense for the Warriors, where Hett was the primary setter but also an outside hitter.
Versch loved the fact his players finished the games and match, and said earlier in the season they would not have come back like they did.
"The team really began to click in the last two games. It was exciting," he said. "Stepping stones like this keep encouraging me and the team that we are improving and hopefully peaking at the right time of the season."
As of Tuesday the Warriors were 5-17 overall.
JUNIOR VARSITY
It was a bittersweet day Saturday for MHS junior varsity team at its home squad.
Despite winning two of its three matches, the team did not qualify to move out of pool play. With three of four teams in pool B sitting at 2-1, Marion lost the tie-breaker and did not advance.
"It was very disappointing to defeat the number one team from pool play, and not advance to further play," Versch said.
That victory was against eventual tournament runner-up Herington. It was the third match of the day for MHS, and it needed to win by a 2-0 margin to advance as a tie-breaker winner.
The Warriors took care of business in the first game winning 25-21, but a 25-19 loss in the second game ended any hope of advancing, despite a 25-15 third-game, and match victory.
Before the Herington match, MHS swept Wichita Sunrise Academy 25-18, 25-18, and fell to Nickerson, 25-23, 25-13.
Versch was mostly pleased with his defense, especially efforts by Emma Hett, who was named to the all-tournament team, and libero Alex Cain.
"[We] came out ready to play," Versch said of the victory against Sunrise.
Even though the team did not advance, the varsity coach was happy with the way the players performed.
"This was a much improved JV team," Versch said. "They did not win a single game in this tournament last year."
