17 aces, balanced attack send Marion past Gilbert in 4A regional semifinal

MARION — A dozen service errors is a little on the high side, but when you counter it with 17 aces, you grin and live with it.

“We knew serving was going to be a big thing in this match,” Marion setter Grace Whalen said.

That risk-and-reward attitude, coupled with a super-balanced net attack, sent No. 8 Marion past Gilbert in a four-set Class 4A volleyball regional semifinal Thursday night at Marion High School.

Set scores were 27-25, 26-28, 25-17 and 25-22.

“The coaches were really pushing Zone 2 and Zone 3,” said Jaleaya Oliver, whose back-to-back aces late in the fourth set brought the Wolves (27-13) closer to the finish line.

For those not versed with which zone is which, “that means the outsides,” Whalen said.

The Wolves advance to face No. 7 Solon (29-9) — a straight-set winner over Clinton — in a regional final Tuesday at Solon.

“We’ve got to play better than we did tonight,” Marion Coach Roxanne Paulsen said.

Paulsen said the ace volume came naturally.

“We weren’t really trying to pump the aces,” she said. “We probably missed more than we would have liked.”

Meanwhile, Whalen’s even distribution among four attackers — “We tried to keep them guessing,” she said — was a key factor.

Nayomi Vasser posted a team-high 13 kills. Freshman Abbey Kirk added 12, Addison Parker and Braelin Wieseler nine apiece.

Whalen collected 39 assists.

“We don’t have any 6-foot-plus hitters,” Paulsen said. “We’ve got to play 30 feet (across the net). We’ve got to use the right side as much as the left.”

The teams split longer-than-regulation sets, then Marion scored the first six points of Game 3 and was never in trouble. Their only deficit in the finale was 1-0.

Gilbert (18-14) cut a six-point deficit to 19-18, but Vasser’s kill gave Marion a side-out point, then Oliver went ace-ace to make it 22-18.

Evie Christenson posted 17 kills and five aces for the Tigers.

Marion 3, Gilbert 1

(27-25, 26-28, 25-17, 25-22)

Class 4A Regional Semifinal, at Marion

Serving: Gilbert 89-93 (.957), Marion 90-102 (.882)

Aces: Gilbert 10 (Evie Christensen 5), Marion 17 (Abbey Kirk, Jaleaya Oliver 4)

Kills: Gilbert 46 (Christenson 17), Marion 48 (Nayomi Vasser 13)

Assists: Gilbert 44 (Sniezek 38), Marion 44 (Grace Whalen 39)

Blocks:

Gilbert 3 (Sniezek 2), Marion 5 (Addison Parker, Vasser 2)

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com