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Marion Local's Emersyn Mescher (20) sets the ball as teammates Bailey Evers (9) and Grace Moeller (14) get ready.
MARIA STEIN - Coming into Monday night on a two-game losing streak, Marion Local swept Anna in a 25-16, 29-27, 25-20 cross-conference clash at the Hangar.
A back and forth start to the match was wiped out by a big Flyer run. With the score at 6-3 in favor of the hosts, Marion Local won the next six points to create some breathing room and got a 12-3 lead. Anna picked up some of the slack, but the early hole was just too big for the Rockets to dig out of and Marion took the first set with ease.
Heading into the second set, Anna did not back down from the challenge on the road. The Rockets rallied off six of the first seven points to take a 6-1, forcing Marion Local coach Katherine Dirksen to call timeout.
"Anna was making good adjustments on defense, so we had to mix it up," Dirksen said. "We had to come up with a different strategy and offensive belief."
Those changes worked, as Marion Local not only got back into the set, but took an 13-11 lead on a Kate Ashman kill. Ashman led the team in kills on the night with 12.
Marion Local's Kate Ashman stretches to save the ball.
Anna fought to push the set, and took the lead a couple of times. A flurry of side-outs however had Marion Local one point away from the set with the score at 24-21. The Rockets rallied, and got the lead back at 25-24. Both teams broke serve, and Grace Moeller ended the set with a huge kill to take a two sets to none lead.
The final set played out much like the first. Both teams went at it early, but the Flyers settled things down and found too many runs late to take a 12-8 lead. Anna cut the score to 13-10, after a Miranda Hoying kill.
Marion did settle down, however, and the hosts battled through Anna's tough play to extend their lead to 21-16. A few back and forth points later, the Flyers led 24-19 and were sitting on match point. Ashman hit a ball that some fans thought was the finishing shot, but it was ruled out. The next point, Moeller smacked a kill to finish off the set and sweep.
The Flyers had a few big names do their part in the win. Sophie Salazar ended the night with three kills, and Moeller added a team-high five blocks and nine kills.
Marion Local's Grace Moeller keeps her eye on the ball as she bumps the ball to a teammate against Anna.
"I was excited to see them play fire volleyball," Dirksen said. "Running their tempo and making adjustments. I want to see the same kind of thing that they did tonight (in their next game)."
The Rockets drop to 7-4 on the year, and will take their 2-1 Shelby County League record on the road tonight against Fairlawn. Marion Local improves to 6-3 on the year and will look to move above .500 in the Midwest Athletic Conference on Thursday at home against Parkway.
