Volleyball was scarce in Marion County over the past week with several cancelations due to either quarantine or Hurricane Ida. The Columbia Wildcats and West Marion Trojans did get to play one match each, but both squads lost. Columbia (1-6) had a disastrous first set lead to a 3-0 loss to Sumrall Tuesday at home in its district opener. The Wildcats lost the first set 25-7 but rallied to make the final two sets competitive, falling 25-22 and 25-20. Head coach Ryan Loftin said he thinks the Wildcats came out flat in the first set because they put pressure on themselves with it being the first district match of the season. “We let it get out of hand early,” he said. “But I talked to them in between sets, got everyone on the same page and played really good in the second and third sets. Sumrall is a really good team, and we just made too many mistakes.” Late in the second set, the margin was just two points when the Wildcats made an error on a serve, which started a Bobcats rally. Loftin said serving was the difference in the game with the Wildcats committing 14 serve errors. For the season, Columbia serves well 85% of the time, but the Wildcats had successful serves just 72% of the time against Sumrall. “That’s the difference in those close district games. I think if we could have gotten that second set, it would have turned the tide in our favor,” Loftin said. “It just didn’t work out that way.” Patrice Oatis and Katie Gates had five kills apiece to lead Columbia’s attacking, while Skye Abram had five aces and Jalaysia Everett had five assists. The second-year coach said after playing competitively against Sumrall, he believes if all of the Wildcats show up, they can beat any team in the district. He added Oatis, Gates and Abram stepped up against Sumrall, but the Wildcats will need six or seven to show up to win in Class 4A. Columbia played its second district match of the season Thursday at Purvis, but results were unavailable at press time. The Wildcats will be back at home Tuesday for a district match against Forrest County AHS. The Trojans (4-3, 0-1) were once again without three starters Aug. 26 against St. Patrick, which played a big role in West Marion dropping its district opener. Despite being without half of their regular lineup nearly bested a very talented Fighting Irish squad. St. Patrick won 3-1 (25-15, 27-25, 28-26, 25-21), but the Trojans were right there in every set besides the first. Head coach Todd Pittman said he was really proud of the way the Trojans played while being shorthanded with several players quarantined. “It’s a revolving door right now. I just can’t get a consistent starting six out there,” he said. “Every game we’re having to shuffle the rotation around.” Raven Jones (12 kills), Lainey Brumfield (10 kills) and Malyssa Johnson (eight kills) were extremely effective attacking even with West Marion’s depleted roster. Jillian Pittman had 22 assists and nine digs to lead the Trojans in both categories. Uncharacteristically, the Trojans didn’t serve well at all with just six aces and 10 serving errors. “I think if we’re healthy and I have all my starters there, I think we can beat (St. Patrick),” Pittman said. “Yes, they beat us 3-1, but it was just a few points here or there. If we were fully healthy, I think we beat them.” If there’s a silver lining to the constant lineup shuffling, it’s that several younger players have showed they can play well at the varsity level, which could ultimately lengthen West Marion’s rotation. West Marion played at Sacred Heart Thursday night, but results were unavailable at press time. Pittman said prior to the match that the Trojans would have three starters out again, with one coming back and one going out. One of West Marion’s players has had to quarantine twice with different family members catching the coronavirus despite her consistently testing negative. The Trojans will play host to Our Lady Academy Tuesday. East Marion (1-2) hasn’t got to play since Aug. 23 through no fault of its own. East Marion’s Aug, 26 match against Jeff Davis County was canceled with the Jaguars being virtual, then its match against St. Patrick Monday was canceled because of Hurricane Ida and its match against Bogue Chitto Tuesday was canceled because of Bogue Chitto quarantining. The Eagles are expected to return to the court Tuesday at home against Salem.
