VOLLEYBALL (cont.)
Collierville scored six of the next seven points, but Williams logged a kill and a block to get Marion within 18-14, but the Dragons limited the Pats to one point down the stretch for a 25-15 victory in the third frame.
Kills by Rucker and Shinabery kept Marion in the mix early in the fourth set, but Collierville scored four straight to open up a 6-2 lead, which forced a Marion timeout.
Rucker responded to the stoppage by twice turning Miller passes into kills, and blocking a kill attempt, and when freshman Aynslee Coad (two kills) logged a kill, and Williams registered a block, Marion had tied the set at 7.
Bullins blocked a kill attempt and served an ace to get Marion within 10-8, and when Miller found Rucker and Coad on consecutive points, the Pats were back within 14-12.
Collierville scored the next four points, but the Pats took advantage of a pair of errors before freshman Kaitlyn Austin (team-high 24 digs) served an ace before making an athletic play on a kill attempt that led to a Williams kill, which moved Marion within 18-15.
Marion scored three straight points late in the fourth set when Shinabery and senior Madison Allison (seven kills) logged kills and Chamness served an ace, but Collierville scored four of the last five to clinch victory.
The Marion junior varsity bested Collierville in a best-of-three match (25-22, 16-25, and 15-6).
Marion played this weekend in the River City Classic in Memphis before traveling to Wynne for a non-conference date on Monday evening and opened league play Tuesday night at perennial state power Valley View.
Marion hosts Nettleton on Thursday, September 1.
The Wynne, Valley View, and Nettleton contests will be broadcast live on MarionPatriots.com and on the Marion Patriots Activities Network mobile
