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Volleyball: Marcus withstands Carroll rally, wins thriller to advance to the regional semis
BY JUSTIN THOMAS, JThomas@acnpapers.com
IRVING — In order to become a champion, teams must have the ability to overcome adversity, handle pressure and withstand major momentum shifts.
Tuesday in its regional quarterfinal match against Southlake Carroll, Marcus’ volleyball team did all of the above.
After racing out to a two-game lead, Marcus suddenly found itself on the brink of elimination, entering a do-or-die fifth game with the Lady Dragons.
But through all the chaos, with outside hitters playing as setters and vice-versa, the Lady Marauders stuck together, rallying from a 5-2 deficit early in the game to pull out the victory (25-12, 25-19, 22-25, 19-25, 15-13) and advance to the Class 5A Region I semifinals for the second consecutive season.
“It was an amazing feeling,” said Mary Koehler, a Marcus outside hitter who delivered the game-winning kill for the Lady Marauders despite being positioned as a setter. “We worked so hard that last game. Even though the lineup was screwed up, we were able to work through it. Now I know we can do anything.”
After submitting the incorrect lineup, Marcus coach Cristie Liles opted to forfeit a point to place the correct rotation on the court. However, following a few minutes of discussion, the officials ruled the lineup could not be changed and the score was reset to 0-0.
A flustered and confused Lady Marauders team quickly fell behind, 5-2, but regrouped following a timeout and responded to pull within one point at 6-5.
Later, Marcus found itself trailing, 10-8, after losing a point for a serve by the wrong player in the rotation. But kills from Lauren Douglass and Michelle Wise knotted the score, 10-10, before the Lady Marauders eventually moved in front, 14-12. Carroll cut the deficit back to one with a kill from Janelle Jenkins, but Koehler sealed the win for Marcus setting off a rushing of the court from the Marcus faithful in attendance.
“I’m glad we pulled it out despite me,” a relieved Liles said. “We play a lot of out-of-system stuff, so everyone has to know everything. Mary Koehler showed that tonight. Our outside hitter was setting. But, she always wants to be a setter so tonight she got her chance.”
“Michelle Wise and Brittney Bernstein stepped up, too,” Liles added. “They havent been in any matches in probably two or three weeks. I’m so proud of them. I couldn’t even pay attention to if we were winning or not because I was trying to figure out where we were and who we were opposite of. I couldn’t even think. We showed a lot of character and heart. When people talk about a full team effort, there couldn’t be more of a definition of that than tonight.”
For Carroll, the season ends in the same round and to the same opponent as last season, when Marcus topped the Lady Dragons in four games in the regional quarterfinals.
“I thought we had them beat in the fifth set,” said Arthur Stanfield, Carroll coach. “But we missed a serve and made a hitting error when they were all jumbled around and flustered. We gave them two points in a row on our mistakes and I think that gave them a little bit of a chance to catch their breath and get things figured out. We were in a dogfight from there on out and we just came up a little bit short. They’re a good team. It just didn’t go our way.”
For Marcus, the change in rotation may have helped relieve the pressure created by not securing the win after grabbing a 2-0 lead.
“I just think it shows you how much fight we have in our team,” Marcus setter Mallori Sando said. “We have confidence in each other. We knew we should win that game and we wanted to win it for our coach. Honestly, I think the distraction almost helped us. We had the pressure on us after losing the third and fourth game, which really stressed us out. The rotation almost made us think about something totally different and just play our game.”
Marcus was in top form at the start of the contest, cruising to a win in the first game.
Lauren Douglass led the offense, totaling nine kills in the game, including terminations on seven of 13 points during which Marcus pushed a 3-2 lead to 13-5.
Marcus stayed in control in Game 2, winning three consecutive points for a 7-4 advantage, the closest the Lady Dragons would get in the second game.
However, the momentum began to swing in the third game. Carroll grabbed the first point of the game to take its first lead since a 1-0 advantage in the first game. Later, with Marcus up, 9-5, Carroll rallied to take an 11-10 advantage which it carried to a win.
In Game 4, the squads were even, 13-13, before Carroll closed the game with a 12-6 run powered by Jenkins, Olivia Miano and Sutton Sunstrum.
“We went to a 5-1 in the third game,” Stanfield said, “because I thought in the first two games we got no defense out of our right back. So we went to that. Caitlin (Nolan) did a good job of defending and we won a few rallies at the net. But I don’t know why we played so bad the first two sets. They didn’t do anything we weren’t prepared for.”
“I think they made some good adjustments in the third and fourth game,” Liles said. “They started moving the block and covering the holes a lot better. They moved to the 5-1 and I don’t think we adjusted as well to that. We just had so many errors and let them back in it.”
With the win, Marcus advances to the regional semifinals.
“I’m so proud,” Liles said. “For them to dig down deep like that and pull through despite the craziness and just focus on winning, I couldn’t be more proud. If we can do that, we can do anything. But we have to learn to minimize our mistakes and not take anything for granted.”
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