Marion 2nd in tourney; Hillsboro wins dual, tri

It was a winning week for Marion County volleyball as Hillsboro swept two meets and Marion placed second and Goessel fifth in a pool-play tournament.

Goessel

At the Canton-Galva tournament, Goessel won one match in pool play and then defeated the host school for fifth place.

In the first match of the day the Bluebirds lost to Marion 10-25, 25-21, and 12-25. Goessel then played an improving Halstead team and lost to the Dragons, 22-25, 27-25, and 21-25.

Goessel defeated Wichita Home School, 25-14 and 25-18. In a fifth-place match against Canton-Galva, the Bluebirds started hot behind the serving of senior Kaleigh Guhr, who served three aces as Goessel jumped ahead 8-2. Rylee Walker and Jaicee Griffin controlled the net and Brooklyn Wuest and Lyna Lehrman hammered from the left side until Goessel won, 25-16.

Ashley Rosfeld, Aimee Funk and Abbigail Funk played a stellar back row on defense as Guhr dished up assist after assist. Rachael Zogleman hit winners from the left and right side as the Bluebirds cruised to a 25-16 win in the second set.

Hillsboro

The Trojans had to come from behind, but Hillsboro won its dual with Belle Plaine in straight sets Thursday, 25-19, 25-11, and 25-10.

“We got off to a really slow start due to mistakes and got ourselves into a 4-12 hole,” coach Sandy Arnold said. “After a timeout, the girls responded and came back to take the first game.

“From there we played much better and finished the next two games playing Trojan volleyball. I was pleased with how the girls came back after getting behind.”

In a triangular meet Tuesday with Pratt and Haven, the Trojans won both matches, defeating Pratt 25-17 and 25-17 and defeating Haven 25-21 and 25-4.

Hillsboro will travel to Great Bend on Thursday for a triangular with Great Bend and Emporia.

Marion

Marion finished 4-1 and placed second Saturday at a tournament at Canton-Galva High School.

In pool play, Marion defeated Goessel in the first match, 25-10, 21-25, and 25-12. The Warriors went on to defeat Wichita Home School, 25-15 and 25-18, and Halstead, 25-18 and 25-15, to take first place in their pool.

Marion then defeated Solomon, 25-22 and 25-18, before falling to Little River, 15-25 and 13-25, in the championhip match.

“We played very well as a team today,” coach Kris Burkholder said. “We served the ball well, taking teams out of their system. We also were aggressive at the net and hit well.”

The championship match was disappointing because the Warriors had defeated Little River earlier in the year.

“But I am proud of our team for taking second place and proud of how we played today,” Burkholder said.

Marion will play at Ell-Saline on Thursday.

Staff writers Mindy Kepfield, Delbert Peters, and Eric Meyer contributed to this report.