Marion JH wins volleyball conference title

Junior Patriots cap 2022 season with tourney win

By CHUCK LIVINGSTON

Marion School District

Erin Neeley could hardly believe her eyes last May when she walked into Marion’s volleyball practice.

The skill level, attitudes, and camaraderie of what would soon become her first team as head coach of Marion Junior High were almost too good to be true.

Neeley’s initial feeling was proven true over the course of the 2022 season. Her squad capped a 24-5 regular-season conference championship year by winning four straight sets at the conference tournament on Saturday at Fidelity Bank Arena to capture the conference tournament title.

“I’m just ecstatic because we took care of business and played extraordinarily well, especially on Saturday,” said Neeley. “I feel like we kept getting better and better as the year went on. I’m just proud of the girls because they wanted it so bad and played so hard.”

Marion’s gaudy record is even more impressive when you consider there were only four freshmen on the roster. Ninth-graders Reese Goodwin, Abby Simmons, Cameron Baker, and Abby Jackson all produced excellent seasons for the conference champs. Four other Marion freshman volleyball players were promoted to the senior high varsity team prior to the season.

Baker, Kendall Brown, and Jaida Sturdivant topped Marion in kills this year, while Simmons, Kayson McClain, and Bren Sutton finished as the top three players in digs. Goodwin and Claire Brinkley topped the Marion assist chart, while Sturdivant, Brown, Goodwin, and Jackson dominated in blocks. Simmons, Sutton, Goodwin, and Brinkley served the most aces for the Pats.

A regular-season district title wasn’t a given, however. Marion lost its first meeting this season with conference rival Mountain Home in three sets before Paragould bested the Pats in a non-conference tournament match.

“The talent level was never a question because I believe in my girls completely,” said Neeley. “We had to find the right chemistry, but when we finally did it, we really took off.”

Following the loss to Paragould at the tournament, Neeley’s troops focused all week on neutralizing the Ram attack ahead of a conference showdown at Paragould.

Both sets were close, but Marion bested the Rams in two sets to reenter the league title hunt. The Pats earned the No. 1 playoff seed at the conference tournament the following week by sweeping Mountain Home in straight sets. The Pats had caught fire.

“That was the one for sure where I knew that we’d figured it out,” explained Neeley. “They fought so hard to come back in that second set, and I knew that we could finish out the way we wanted to.”

By virtue of earning the No. 1 seed after the regular season, Marion earned a first-round bye at the conference tournament at home, meaning the Pats got to open their conference title run in the quarterfinals against Crittenden County rival West. Marion showed no rust despite the game off, outscoring West 25-11 and 25-14 to set up the third meeting of the year against Mountain Home, this time for the tournament title.

“I watched how they played against (Jonesboro) MacArthur, and they played extremely well,” said Neeley. “I was nervous going into the finals, but I knew what our team was capable of.”

Marion outlasted Mountain Home in the first set 25-20 before claiming the conference crown with a dominating 25-11 decision in the second set.

Neeley was a four-year letter-winner in high school at Jonesboro Westside for Hall-of-Fame coach Glenda Patterson before she starred for four seasons at Arkansas State University as a libero for legendary coach Craig Cummings. At ASU, Neeley paced the club in digs four seasons in a row.

The Bono native’s first volleyball head coaching job was at West Memphis High School, where she guided the Blue Devils to the state tournament in 2016 and 2017.

“I’ve had unbelievable coaches my entire life,” said Neeley. “Coach Patterson was so smart and great to play for. My club coaches, Joe, and Joanie Williams are the reason we even have club volleyball in Arkansas and I love them. Coach Cummings is a stud, he knows everything. He’s truly the g.o.a.t (greatest of all time). I guess I just wish I’d paid better attention to them through the years like why they did things and how they did things. But I’ve been so lucky.”