The Eagles made quick work of Kemper County Tuesday night in the first round of the Class 2A playoffs to put East Marion on the precipice of reaching its second consecutive South State title game.
East Marion (14-2) needed just three sets to take care of business and sweep Kemper County on its home court behind a dominant performance from its leader. Head coach Mandell Echols said setter Destiny Brown showed why she’s an all-star with a rare triple-double for the Eagles. The senior set the table with 13 assists, was extremely active at the net with 12 kills and dominated Kemper County with her serving with 11 aces.
The vast majority of setters finish most matches with zero kills because their primary job is to set up the middle and outside hitters for attacks. But Brown’s all-around game allows her to keep opposing defenses guessing because she can set up her teammates on one play then spike it herself on the next. That kind of versatility keeps opposing teams from being able to set up their defense, not knowing if the Eagles are going to attack on their first, second or third hit.
Echols added that as a team, East Marion played one of its better matches of the season with only one or two players not playing at their best.
East Marion is making the 65-mile trek north Thursday night to take on Puckett (20-4) in the second round of the playoffs. Unfortunately for the Eagles, Echols said he hasn’t been able to find out much about the Wolves because they don’t post stats online, and he hasn’t been able to locate film on them. All of the coaches he’s talked to in order to get information has told him that Puckett is solid all the way around.
“That’s something I already knew,” he said. “All I know is based off what I learned last year.”
If the Eagles can minimize making the small mistakes, primarily committing serving errors, Echols said he feels good about their chances because they’re always good defensively and have the athleticism to compete with anyone.
Puckett ended East Marion’s season last year in the South State championship, and the Eagles are hoping to keep that from happening again. What caused the Eagles so much trouble in last year’s match was the Wolves attacked them from so many different angles that East Marion could hardly defend the Wolves’ attacking.
“A lot of it nullified our blockers because our blocker was right in front of them, and they would spike it across and away from them. That’s something we’ve been working on, the angle of the girl who is blocking them,” he explained.
The Eagles were swept in that match last October but was right there in every set, falling 25-20, 25-22 and 25-19. Following the loss last year, Echols said the Eagles were also dealing with the refs, who questionably called multiple double touches on East Marion that demoralized the team early on.
“There were a bunch of calls like that, and my girls felt like they were being cheated and just dropped their heads,” he said last year. “Once we dropped our heads, it was hard to fight back from.”
Beating Puckett would likely set up a date with Sacred Heart, who faced Lake in the second round, in the South State title.
“Sacred Heart is not a pushover. We’re going to have to play some of our best volleyball these next two or three games,” Echols said.
It can be a dangerous game looking at common opponents because teams always match up differently, but West Marion beat Sacred Heart Sept. 30 and East Marion beat the Trojans the last time they played them.
The South State title would be played Tuesday, and the 2A state championship is scheduled for noon on Oct. 23 (next Saturday) at Ridgeland High School.
