Friday, Sep. 19, 2008

'Best Win of the Year’ for Lady Marauders

MHS Volleyball

By Kevin Lonnquist

Staff Writer

There are wins, and then there are quality wins. So when Marcus defeated 2007 Class 5A state tournament participant Plano West last Friday, it gave coach Cristie Liles’ players a different perspective of what kind of team they are.

After dropping the first game, 22-25, the Lady Marauders (20-10) rallied to win the last three, 25-20, 25-21 and 25-21. Equally important is that it is Marcus’ first win over Plano West in school history. The Lady Wolves had won the previous five meetings.

"It’s probably the best win of the year," Liles said. "History has told our program that it can’t win these kinds of matches. Last year, we crossed over the Arlington school district hump, and I think we’re doing that with the Plano and Allen district."

Usually, Marcus plays a pretty demanding non-district schedule. But even Liles admits the 2008 version is a little tougher than last year simply because there are more games to add to the short district schedule.

And Marcus’ strength of schedule is littered by teams that it has lost to: Lake Highlands twice, Highland Park twice, Amarillo, Carroll, Richardson Pearce, Austin Westlake, Fort Bend Travis and Round Rock.

"We’re facing every team who is pretty much a legitimate power and potential state qualifier," Liles said. "The best thing about the Plano West game is that this team didn’t flinch. It was prepared and believed it was going to win."

Marcus played host to Plano on Tuesday, winning 3-0, before it plays at Allen tonight.

20 Wins Not What They Used to Be

With the win over Plano West, Marcus reached the 20-win plateau for the seventh consecutive season under coach Cristie Liles.

But a pretty record won’t mean much if her ballclub isn’t in the playoffs. The Lady Marauders set the single-season school record for wins last year with 35. It may be a little tougher for them to get there this year unless they finish non-district strong, sweep a very deep District 6-5A and win at least two games in the postseason.

"It’s nice, but to me, records are irrelevant," Liles said. "People don’t look at strength of schedule, because that’s where you find out how good your team is."

Johnson Coming Back

Senior outside hitter Lyndi Johnson is one of the top two offensive forces for the Lady Marauders.

Until recently, Liles said Johnson had been in a hitting slump where her kill shots were off. Liles said the problem was simply timing. It showed against Plano West when she had 14 kills.

"She’d been having a hard time because when the ball was underneath, it was going everywhere," Liles said. "Now, she’s getting on top of it and delivering it where it needs to go."

Reuniting

Marcus plays its final non-district match Tuesday at Mesquite. It will be a reunion of former Amarillo High School teammates in Liles and Mesquite coach Kristi Pecina.

The two were a part of the 1988 Amarillo state championship team. They also played against each other in college when Pecina was at Stephen F. Austin and Liles was at Sam Houston State. This is the first time the two have met as coaches.

"I brought it up, and we both thought it would be a great idea," Liles said. "There will be a lot to talk about."