WEST MEMPHIS --- A last-minute venue change shifted the site of Tuesday night’s 5A East volleyball match between Marion and West Memphis, but the story remained the same for the Patriots.
Fresh off playing nine matches and 27 sets over six days a week ago, Marion adjusted well to the unfamiliar surroundings of the West Memphis Devil Dome and dealt the Blue Devils a three-set defeat (25-9, 25-12, 25-15).
Marion improved to 9-1 overall and 2-0 in the 5A East with the decision, and the Patriots host league foe Greene County Tech Thursday evening inside Fidelity Bank Arena.
If you can not attend the match in person, you can watch for free on the Marion Patriots Activities Network YouTube channel.
West Memphis held serve early in the first set on Tuesday night, until a hat trick of kills from Kendall Brown, two from Marlee Williams, and one apiece from Taylor Ruffin and Claire Brinkley pushed the Patriots to a 9-2 lead to force a Blue Devil timeout.
West Memphis responded well to the stoppage, scoring four straight points, capped by a Mallori Harris ace.
Brown and Williams took over from there, recording a pair of kills apiece with Brinkley assisting on all four, and Marion took its first double-digit lead of the opener (19-9) on another Ruffin kill.
Marion slammed the door down the stretch on kills from Williams, Brinkley, and Brown, easing out to a 25-9 win.
Marion got the jump on West Memphis in the second stanza, ripping off five straight points for a 6-1 lead.
The run began with back-to-back kills from Brinkley and Williams, an Alli Sharp ace, another Williams point, and then Sharp’s second ace in three scores, and a Bren Sutton kill gave Marion an 11-4 lead to force a Blue Devil timeout.
Brown came up with three kills, and Ruffin a pair, the latter of which gave Marion a double-digit (20-10) advantage in the second stanza, and Ruffin’s fourth kill of the set pushed the Pats to a 13-point conquest in the second.
Izzy Fenter and Harper Doyle logged a pair of kills early in the third set, while Brown had a kill and a block, helping Marion out to an early 9-2 lead.
Brown then served back-to-back aces, and when Annabelle White did the same, Marion had again achieved a double-digit lead in the third set, this time at 16-6.
A Sutton ace gave Marion a 20-7 lead, followed by a pair of Brinkley kills, and Ruffin delivered the final points of the night with a kill to help the visitors claim a tidy 25-15 decision in the third set.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Marion hosts Greene County Tech on Thursday evening at Fidelity Bank Arena. The evening begins at 4:30 p.m. with two sets of the junior high B contest, followed by a best-of-three for the junior high A, one set of the high school varsity B, and then the best-of-five high school varsity.
If you can not attend Thursday night’s match, you can watch it for free on the Marion Patriots Activities Network.
ALL-AMERICANS
Marion senior volleyball players Claire Brinkley, Kendall Brown, Alli Sharp, Bren Sutton, Annabelle White, and Marlee Williams landed on the 2026 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-America watch-list last week.
5A EAST RESULTS FROM 9/1
Marion 3, W. Memphis 0
Paragould 3, Greene Co. Tech 0
Valley View 3, Searcy 0
Nettleton 3, Batesville 2
Beebe 3, Lonoke 2 (non-conference)
5A EAST STANDINGS ON 9/2
SCHOOL CONF. RECORD
Marion 2-0
Paragould 2-0
Beebe 1-0
Greene Co. Tech 1-1
Valley View 1-1
Nettleton 1-1
Searcy 0-1
Batesville 0-2
W. Memphis 0-2
Top four teams qualify for state tournament at Farmington.
5A EAST MATCHES ON 9/3
Greene Co. Tech at Marion
Nettleton at Paragould
Searcy at Beebe
W. Memphis at Valley View
Mountain Home at Batesville (non-conference)