Patriots beat Blue Devils in volleyball version of Hometown Showdown
Marion, West Memphis clash at Patriot Arena
Marion School District Patriot Arena has been the host of many basketball events, but the facility was taken over by Marion volleyball last Thursday night. The Lady Patriots (10-3 overall, 5-1 5A East) swept the Academies of West Memphis Blue Devils (2-6, 1-5) in a night where a team effort was needed following an injury to a key player.
Sophomore Daedrianna Cail recorded three kills and a block when she exited the game in the first set after landing on her knee awkwardly. Several Lady Patriots stepped up to fill in the hard-hitting Cail’s spot, but arguably none shined quite as brightly as junior Kersten Jackson.
Jackson’s team-high 16 kills gave the Lady Pats extra life when they needed it the most against the athletic Lady Devils. She also recorded 13 assists, which helped set up her perfect tips that caught the Devil defense off-guard.
She also served two aces while committing only four service errors in her 25 attempts. Junior Camille Moncrief led the team in aces with four, and senior Meagan Tolleson also recorded an ace.
The big win came only two days after the Pats fell in three sets to Jonesboro in a game where Coach Lisa Beasley said her girls did not play to their full potential. After the win, she said she was proud of the way they responded to the loss and that their performance on the court was more focused.
“I just told them to leave no doubt,” Beasley said.
“Losing to Jonesboro is no reason to have your head down. We needed to win this one, we couldn’t let it get away from us.”
She also said she was nervous about how large of a crowd their would be in the 2,200 seat arena compared to Patriot Volleyball Gymnasium. However, she said she was happy to see how much of Patriot Nation showed up to support her team.
“I was impressed (with the crowd), but I still like our cozy little corner,” Beasley said. “I was happy with the turn-out, and I want to say thank you to the Trench (student section) and all the fans for coming.”
Up next for the Lady Pats is a trip to Baxter County to challenge the Mountain Home Lady Bombers (9-32, 5-1). The night from the Hangar will feature junior varsity and varsity action beginning at 5 p.m., with the varsity game available on a live stream at marionpatriots. com.
