Friday, Aug. 15, 2008

Marcus Beats Arlington in Opener

MHS Volleyball

By Kevin Lonnquist

Staff Writer

It may not have been for redemption or revenge. But deep down, the Marcus volleyball players probably felt some sort of justice after Tuesday’s season opening win at Arlington.

The Lady Marauders, who dropped a heartbreaking five-game match to the Lady Colts in the 2007 Class 5A Region I quarterfinals, found the equalizer Tuesday, 25-22, 25-23, 16-25, 25-20.

Of course, ask coach Cristie Liles and her players, and they would have gladly traded this win for winning last year’s epic.

"We talked about the past and what happened last year," senior outside hitter Michelle Hundt said. "All of us felt the fire."

This is the second consecutive year Marcus defeated Arlington in the opener. Last year, Marcus won at home. But the significance of this one was that it is the first time Marcus has won in Arlington’s building.

"I am excited, but we obviously have a lot of work to do," Liles said. "They were extremely poised. And they handled the pace of the game pretty well."

The telling part of the match came in the second game. Down 23-18, the Lady Marauders rallied with the last seven points. After a flaw-filled third game, Marcus took control of the fourth game late. The Lady Marauders broke a 16-16 tie with six consecutive points.

"That second game really showed me something," Liles said. "There’s some fight in this group. You like to see that early in the season."

In the Hundt…

Hundt is done with volleyball after this year. She plans on studying veterinarian medicine in college.

But she’s making her last year count. Hundt delivered 15 kills in Tuesday’s season opening victory over Arlington. The timing of a couple of them was significant.

In the 25-23 comeback win in the second game, Hundt delivered the last of seven consecutive points with an authoritative kill.

The second was in the fourth game. When Arlington rallied to narrow the deficit to 22-20, Hundt responded with a kill that turned the momentum back to Marcus.

It was as if each of these kills had a statement that the captain could put her team on her back. Hundt took a performance course over the summer and said she feels much stronger. She said she believes she has more power in her kill shot.

"As a captain, players look to you to set the flow of the match and change things with maybe one play," she said. "We’ve always been known as a defensive team, but this year we want to show people we can play offense, too."

Briefly…

Marcus opens play in the Duncanville tournament at 11 a.m. today against El Paso Americas … Liles said she wants her team to be more efficient with its passing. She felt it struggled at times on Tuesday.