MHS volleyball downs Collegiate

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN TOM STOPPEL
The Marion High School volleyball team had no trouble handling Wichita Collegiate on Senior Night in Marion on Tuesday, winning both matches, 25-8, 25-29 and 25-14, 25-13.

“The girls played really well in this match and really stepped up,” coach Kara Chisholm said. “The thing we were most worried about was not playing up to our potential-sometimes we don’t set the game pace. But we came out and took care of business.

“Senior Night might have had something to do with it as well just because it was their last home game,” Chisholm said. “But these games are the nice ones.”

Erin Richmond was Marion’s Miss Congeniality, dishing out 18 assists in 36 sets in the opener and added 10 assists in 31 attempts in the second match while committing just one error.

“Erin played unbelievably well,” Chisholm said of the 5-foot, 9-inch junior. “But part of that was because we had a lot better passes, so she didn’t have to work quite so hard to get the balls up. But she’s worked very hard to improve herself and she’s come a long way.”

Toni Gordon, playing in her final home match at Marion, was the primary beneficiary, compiling 28 attacks in two matches with 13 kills.

“Toni played well, but she’s played well all year,” Chisholm said. “Emalee Versch also had a very good match.”

Senior Megan Hudson added four kills in the second match.

Gordon was also prominent at the net, blocking 12 Spartan attacks, five for stuffs.

Making their final home appearance were Gordon, Versch, Hudson and Allie Maddox.

“Those four do a good job of leading our team,” Chisholm said. “Megan and Toni, because they played last year, know what it takes to show good senior leadership.

“Emalee and Allie have also been really good leaders for me this year too,” she added. “Last year’s seniors and I bonded both on and off the court so it was hard to lose them. But it’ll also be hard to lose this bunch because they’re a good group of girls.”

Marion showed improvement in its serve receive, committing only nine errors in 47 attempts.

“We did a better job than we have been doing on serve receive,” Chisholm said. “Collegiate isn’t one of the best serving teams in the league, but we read the ball well and adjusted to each server.”

The Warriors had only four digs in the opener but 21 in the second match.

With the sweep, Marion’s record in the Eastern Division of the Mid-Central Activities Association is 5-. Its overall record jumped to 11-8.

“I was pleased with how the girls responded with the festivities of the night,” Chisholm said. “A lot of times teams will play down to their opponents’ level, but we forced Collegiate to play up to our level.”

Coming- Marion traveled to Hillsboro on Tuesday for a showdown of Eastern Division co-leaders.

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