Article and photos by T Ray Henry
On Tuesday, October 20th, the Marshall High School junior varsity volleyball team traveled to Mattoon to take on the St. John’s Lutheran School Eagles in a non-conference match. These two squads played a match inside McNary Gymnasium on the campus of Marshall High School three weeks ago, with the Lions coming out winners in three sets 19-25, 25-23, and 15-11.
Coming in off a three-set win less than 24 hours before in Tuscola, the Lions did not have the same energy while falling in straight sets 25-21 and 25-20.
In the opening set, Marshall appeared to be playing in quicksand as they fell behind 19-8 to the homestanding Eagles. Libby Huisinga started the Lions off with a kill, but the Big Red didn’t score again until they were already behind 7-1 when Allie Thompson and Libby Huisinga combined on a block to win Marshall’s second point. Another Huisinga kill and a tip winner by Lauren Richards were the only individual points as St. John’s built an 11-point lead to make the score 19-8.
Marshall suddenly flipped on the switch and began clawing their way out of the 11-point hole, first with a kill by Lauren Richards followed by three straight aces served by Richards. Breck Bishop then scored three points via two kills and a tip winner to get the Lions within two points with the score 22-20. A tip winner by Aubree Shaffer was the only point Marshall could get down the stretch as St. John’s took the opening set by the score of 25-21.
A winner by Allie Thompson, followed by an ace served by Lauren Richards and a kill by Libby Huisinga paced Marshall to a 4-2 early lead early in the second set. Tip winners by Aubree Shaffer and Lauren Richards, combined with a kill by Breck Bishop, helped Marshall take an 11-7 lead. Allie Thompson then stepped up and served an ace to make it 12-7 as St. John’s called time out.
A 7-2 run by the home side tied the set at 14 as Marshall could only get a kill from Breck Bishop and a side out by the Eagles during the run. The teams tied again at 16, 17, and 18 before St. John’s went ahead for good when they scored two straight points to lead 20-18. Aubree Shaffer scored on a tip winner to get the Lions back within one at 20-19, but St. John’s outscored Marshall 5-1 the rest of the way to win the second set 25-20 and take the match in two sets.
Marshall returns to action this Thursday night when the Lions travel to Lawrenceville for their final match of the season against the Lady Indians’ JV squad at 6:00 PM. Both varsity squads will then take to the floor to battle it out for a possible share of the LIC championship depending on how Newton fares against Paris.
Susie Strohm gets the return for the Lions at St John's Lutheran
Southpaw AJ Wernz serves it up against St John's Lutheran
Aubree Shaffer (2) drops the ball to the floor to win the point for Marshall
Lauren Richards (7) strikes the ball down the right side against St John's Lutheran
Thompson (center high) rises up and strikes a shot against St John's Lutheran
