With hopes of winning a third straight conference title and making another deep playoff push, Marion head volleyball coach Lisa Beasley wanted her 2025 team to play some of the top competition around.
That directive led the Patriots to the annual River City Classic in Bartlett, Tennessee, where Marion would see a host of regional powers.
Marion put its best foot forward just across the bridge, starting 4-0 in bracket play before losing to Houston in three sets in the final.
The Pats beat Evangelical Christian (25-6, 25-9), White Station (25-9, 25-12), Good Pasture (25-8, 25-12), and Lake Cormorant (25-14, 25-19) before losing a tight one to Houston.
The 8-2 Patriots now turn their attention to arguably the biggest week of the 2025 regular season, to date. Marion hosts Paragould on Tuesday evening inside Fidelity Bank Arena before traveling on Thursday evening to play Valley View, the first of two matches between those state powers.
Kennedy Bullins paced the Patriots with nine kills against Evangelical Christian, while Kendall Brown registered eight, and Kaitlyn Austin had five kills and a team-high nine digs, and three aces. Abby Simmons and Brown finished with six digs apiece, while Taylor Chamness (nine) and Claire Brinkley (eight) were the team's assist leaders.
Bullins and Brown led the way again with five kills against White Station, while Austin stacked four, and Jaida Sturdivant finished with three. Chamness paced the Pats with four aces, while Simmons, Reese Goodwin, Annabelle White, and Bullins served one apiece. Austin logged seven digs, while Simmons, Brinkley, and Chamness each finished with four, and Brinkley (six), Chamness (four), and Goodwin (four) were tops in assists.
Bullins, Brown, and Goodwin tallied four kills apiece against Goodpasture Christian, while Austin logged three of her own. Simmons (three) and Goodwin (two) combined to serve all five Marion aces, and White got to a team-high five digs, while Chamness finished with four digs and a team-high seven assists, and Brinkley handed out three.
Brown stacked 10 kills against Lake Cromorant, while Bullins logged five and Sturdivant finished with three. Bullins and Chamness served a team-high two aces apiece, while Chamness handed out a high of 10 assists. Austin ran down a team-high six digs, while Simmons, Brown, Brinkley, and Chamness logged five apiece.
Brown (13 kills against Houston) and Bullins (10) sparked the Marion offense in the tournament final, while Simmons served a pair of aces and finished with five digs. Austin handled a team-high nine digs, while Brinkley took down five and handed out a team-high 11 assists, and Chamness finished with nine.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Marion hosts Paragould on Tuesday evening and travels on Thursday to Valley View. Each match begins at 4:30 p.m., and you can watch those matches for free on the MPAN YouTube channel.
5A EAST STANDINGS ON 9/8
SCHOOL CONF. RECORD
MARION 3-0
Valley View 2-0
Greene Co. Tech 2-1
Paragould 2-1
Mountain Home 1-2
Nettleton 1-2
Batesville 1-2
Searcy 0-2
W. Memphis 0-2
Top four teams make state tournament, October 27-29 in Marion.
6A EAST MATCHES ON 9/9
Paragould at Marion
Valley View at W. Memphis
Greene Co. Tech at Searcy
Batesville at Mountain Home
Nettleton does not play a conference match.
6A EAST MATCHES ON 9/11
Marion at Valley View
Paragould at Greene Co. Tech
Nettleton at Batesville
Searcy at W. Memphis
Mountain Home does not play a conference match.