The Marion High School volleyball team took second place at its own invitational tournament, leapfrogging second-seeded Eureka but falling short of clear-cut tournament victor Wichita Collegiate.
Marion shredded Pool B, sweeping Canton-Galva (25-10, 25-12), Halstead (26-24, 25-16) and Eureka (25-16, 25-18). The Warriors edged Sedgwick (25-17, 26-28, 25-19) to reach the championship match, but fell to Collegiate (25-15, 25-17).
?Overall I was very pleased with the day,? coach Jim Versch said. ?I was a bit disappointed about the WC match. We either were pooped out or psyched out by the opponent.
He said the Warriors generated half of their day’s average in all statistical categories against the Spartans.
?We were not aggressive in the final match,? he added.
Collegiate?s route to the championship went through Centre (25-1, 25-8), DeSoto (25-8, 25-17) and Sedgwick (25-17, 25-22) in Pool A. The Spartans played their only 3-game match of the day against Eureka, winning (17-25, 25-10, 25-20). Collegiate came into the tournament ranked No. 1 in 3A and noted Eureka entered ranked No. 5 in the state at the same level.
For the day, Julia Zeiner totaled a team-high 49 kills. Whitney Gordon scored 39 kills.
Last Tuesday, Marion beat Nickerson (25-16, 25-21) and Hoisington (25-18, 27-25) at Hoisington.
Coming?The Warriors hosted a triangular with Hesston and Collegiate Tuesday and will play in the Sterling triangular Sept. 29.
