The West Marion Trojans essentially had their playoff dreams come to a screeching halt this week on the volleyball court.
The Trojans (7-12, 4-4) needed to beat both East Marion and Salem to have a realistic chance but instead dropped both in extremely close matches.
“It’s heartbreaking to be so close but yet sitting at home now,” head coach Todd Pittman said. “We had East Marion beat and should’ve beat them but just couldn’t ever close it out. It was the same way against Salem. They beat us in three really close sets. The key (Tuesday vs. Salem) was in the first set they beat us 25-20, and we had seven first-serve errors and just gave them seven free points. The rest of the game we cleaned up our serving, but we’re just snake bit right now.”
The Trojans took the first two sets against East Marion Monday at home 25-19 and 25-18 before falling in the next two 25-17 and 25-15. Then they had a 13-10 lead in the deciding fifth set, needing just two points to beat the Eagles, but East Marion got a key block at the net that shifted the momentum. Once the set went to deuce, the Eagles came through with a big serve with the match on the line to seal the deal.
Then against Salem, West Marion lost 3-1 by a combined nine points. While the Trojans are mathematically still alive, they would need Salem or East Marion to lose to Amite County, Jeff Davis County and Hazlehurst. The trio only has two district wins between them.
“In the realm of things, it’s virtually over,” Pittman said. “Stranger things have happened, but I don’t see East Marion or Salem losing to any of those three.”
Pittman added that the players are very disappointed after losing Monday and Tuesday because they knew exactly what was on the line.
“I told them we have to find a way to break that streak and to win those tight games in order for us to break through and get into the playoffs,” he said.
The Trojans travel to Seminary Monday for a non-district match and play host to Jeff Davis Thursday in a district contest.
Pictured Above: Trojans sophomore outside hitter Brianna Lee returns a serve against East Marion at home Monday. The Trojans lost the key match in five sets. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
