By ALEXANDER SIMONE

Staff writer

Volleyball may be the sport to watch in Marion County this fall.

Four of the five teams have at least eight wins and records over .500, and Marion and Hillsboro might be fielding their best teams in several years.

Marion’s run of wins has hit occasional snags, including splitting a pair of matches last week against Sedgwick, but the Warriors are on a hot streak.

Their 14-5 record has pushed them to a No. 12 ranking in Class 2A, not far behind Hillsboro (ranked third), and Herington (sixth).

The Warriors responded to their split early last week by winning two matches Thursday against Ell-Saline.

Marion started its evening with the only set that provided much breathing room for either team, winning 25-16. Ell-Saline hit back by taking the second set 25-23, before the Warriors closed the match 25-20.

The second match had different events but the same result. Marion dropped the first set 25-20 but took the other two 25-22, 25-20.

Hillsboro among the best

Hillsboro may be one of the best teams in Kansas. In addition to being ranked third in their class, the Trojans have just two losses. The girls are ranked 18th among all classes.

They netted another success Saturday, winning all three matches in a quad at Douglass.

The Trojans dominated their first two matches, taking down Augusta 25-13, 25-12, and Douglass 25-13, 25-10.

Hillsboro was tested in its last game of the day, a three-set match against Garden Plain that proved the team’s perseverance. The Trojans lost the first set 25-23. They responded in a big way taking the remaining two sets with each going to extra points, 30-28, and 29-27.

Goessel inches near double-digit wins

Goessel raised its win-total to nine victories Saturday at Olpe by defeating Conway Springs 25-11, 25-21.

The Bluebirds then dropped two close sets in a loss to Olpe, 25-22, 25-21.

Goessel rebounded strongly in its match against Wabaunsee, winning the second set 25-17 after losing the opening set 25-16. Wabaunsee proved too much, though, and secured the final set 25-18 to win the match.

The three matches brought Goessel’s record to 9-8 for the season.

Peabody-Burns falls hard

Peabody-Burns took a trio of difficult losses in its Saturday tournament at Wakefield.

The Warriors lost to Bennington in two sets, 25-18, 25-16, and then 25-5, 25-16 to Republic County.

Peabody-Burns’ closest chance came against tournament host Wakefield. The Warriors twice came within four points of winning a set but lost each set 21-25.

Centre volleyball games were postponed because of one student’s recent quarantine for COVID-19.

Contributions to this story were made by Delbert Peters and Rowena Plett.