Batesville drops Marion in five-set volleyball thriller

Patriots gearing up for deep run in state playoffs

Marion School District BATESVILLE —- In what wound up as arguably the game of the night in Arkansas high school volleyball, Marion and Batesville got warmed up for next week’s state tournament by going the distance in a heavyweight fight.

And in the end, both teams got what they wanted.

Batesville outlasted Marion in five sets (30-28, 23-25, 25-9, 13-25, and 15-13) to finish tied for second place in the 5A East standings.

However, it’s the Patriots that will be the No. 2 playoff seed next week at Greenbrier by virtue of their total sets won this season against Batesville.

If two teams finish tied in the standings while splitting their two head-to-head meetings, the second tiebreaker is sets won against the other. Marion defeated Batesville in four sets in September at home, while it took the Pioneers five sets to turn away the Pats at Pioneer Gymnasium.

Marion (17-9 overall, 10-4 5A East) closes its regular season Thursday with a non-conference game at old league rival Jonesboro. The Patriots open their run at the 2022 Class 5A state tournament next Tuesday at 2 p.m. against the No. 3 seed from the 5AWest, which is currently projected to be Mountain Home or Greenbrier. Mountain Home swept Greenbrier on Tuesday evening, and the Bombers own the head-tohead tiebreaker. Every Marion game at the state tournament will be broadcast live on MarionPatriots.com and on the Marion Patriots Activities Network mobile app.

Batesville (13-7, 10-4) scored the first three points of the opening set against Marion, but the Pats rallied to tie that stanza 12 times.

The Pats pushed in front at 18-17 when Maggie Miller dished an assist to Alexa Shinabery for a kill, which forced a Batesville timeout. Marion’s lead hit 21-18 when Kennedy Bullins blocked a Batesville kill for a Patriot point, and Marion got to set point when Miller set for Kiah Rucker, who made it 24-20.

But Batesville scored the next five points for a 25-24 lead, which set up a thrilling finish. A Madison Allison kill helped Marion tie the game at 26, and a Miller ace gave the visitors set point at 27-26. Two straight Batesville points gave the Pioneers the edge before Shinabery registered a kill to again tie the set at 28 before Batesville scored the last two points to earn a dramatic opening-set win.

Marion was unfazed in the second set, however. The Pats hit the Pioneers with an early 4-0 run, and by scoring eight of 10, for an 11-5 lead. A Miller ace, two kills from Rucker, and one kill apiece from Allison and Bullins highlighted the spurt.

Batesville got as close as three points twice down the stretch, but a 4-0 Marion run featuring an Allison kill, a Miller ace, a Rucker block, and a Bullins kill kept the Pats in front 19–14.

Batesville ripped off five consecutive points to take a 21-20 lead, but a Meredith Williams kill and an Allison block got Marion going again. A Bullins kill and a pair of Batesville hitting errors gave Marion an exciting three-point victory in the second set.

The third frame was all Batesville, as the hosts scored seven of the first nine points and never looked back. The Pioneer advantage hit double digits at 17-7, and Batesville closed that frame by scoring eight of the final 10 points.

But just as Batesville played lights out in the third set, Marion returned the favor in the fourth frame. Rucker, an all-conference performer of a season ago, tallied Marion’s first three points with a pair of blocks and a kill before Bullins logged a kill for a 4-0 Patriot advantage.

Miller dished assists to Shinabery, whose consecutive kills gave the Pats an 8-5 lead. Later on, during a stretch of six of eight Marion points, Bullins logged three kills, while Williams served an ace and blocked a kill and the Pats led 15-10.

Marion’s lead hit double digits (22-12) when Kaitlyn Austin served an ace, and a Shinabery kill clinched the No. 2 playoff seed for

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Photo by Londa Hamrick PATRIOTS (cont.)

Marion and the fourth set when the sophomore recorded a kill for a 12point victory. Batesville scored the first three points, and five of the first six, to launch the decisive fifth-set race to 15.

Marion made a game of it when Allison, Rucker, and Bullins stacked kills and Taylor Chamness served an ace to move Marion within 10-7. The Pats made one last run when Miller logged a kill, Williams served an ace, and Rucker registered a pair of kills to get within 14-13, but a Batesville kill gave the Pioneers a twopoint victory in the fifth set.

The Patriots will make their 19th state tournament in 26 years of existence under Coach Lisa Beasley.

Marion has earned 11 conference titles and three state championships (2010, 2011, and 2015).

Marion finishes as conference runner-up this season for the 11th time since the program launched in 1996.

(Top 4 qualify for state tournament)

Valley View 14-0 Marion 10-4* Batesville 10-4* Greene County Tech 9-5 Paragould 7-7 Nettleton 3-11 West Memphis 3-11 Searcy 0-14 *Marion owns the tiebreaker on sets won