Friday, Nov. 14, 2008

It Happened Again?

MHS Volleyball

By Kevin Lonnquist

Staff Writer

It couldn’t have happened two years in a row, could it? The Marcus volleyball team advanced as close to the Region I tournament as it could before playing an epic match.

For the second consecutive year, the Lady Marauders watched their dreams end. This time, Plano East delivered the crushing blow Tuesday at The Colony, 25-22, 25-23, 22-25, 16-25, 19-17.

Coach Cristie Liles saw the character of her team revealed as it rallied from a two-games-to-none deficit. In the fifth game, the Lady Marauders were at match point three times but couldn’t finish it.

"We had our opportunities to win the game," Liles said. "We overcame some hitting mistakes early, but I couldn’t have been more proud of my team."

Although this match didn’t have the same tempo as the 2007 Arlington quarterfinal match loss, it hurt equally as much.

This became the year that the Lady Marauders were going to get to Abilene. It seemed like the perfect scenario. They returned nine seniors, including two impressive outside hitters in Lyndi Johnson and Michelle Hundt. Alas, nothing is guaranteed.

Marcus posted a second consecutive 30-win season, finished 32-13 and shared the District 6-5A championship with Carroll and Coppell.

"But the great thing about this team is that the weight was evenly distributed," Liles said. "Everybody did their jobs. Last year, we relied on the middles. This year, we could go anywhere."

Key seniors lost: OH Michelle Hundt, OH Lyndi Johnson, S Lauren Cooke, MB Kaitlin Samford, OH Megan McCullough

Key returners: MB Haley Neisler, RS Elizabeth Fortado, MB Lauren Douglass, MB Bailey Bunting, S Mallori Sando

Highs: The Lady Marauders picked off impressive wins during the season over Allen, Plano West and Coppell and shared the district championship. Lows: Aside from the playoff loss to Plano East, the Lady Marauders were lost all three matches to Carroll, including one non-district match.

What went well: Production came from everywhere. The outside hitters were seniors who led by example. Cooke set the tone for just about every match with her setting. And the underclassmen, including Bunting and Neisler, more than held their own.

What caused struggles: Hitting errors always tend to come at the wrong time. That’s what cost Marcus in its losses to Carroll. The team also had to endure the growing pains of the middle blockers as they became accustomed to the varsity speed. Liles also could not settle on a backup setter behind Cooke.

Coach Liles said it: "We’re losing a lot of defense, and that’s going to be our main goal in the off-season; to replace it. But we also have a pretty good group of young players coming up."