In their first trip to the postseason, the West Marion Trojans made quick of their first-round opponent, Raleigh, in the Class 3A playoffs Tuesday and are now among the final eight teams.
Trojans head coach Todd Pittman said it felt good to secure the school’s first-ever postseason win and that the girls were excited. He said they played pretty well even though there were some things that could be cleaned up, but not playing for a week likely contributed to the occasional miscues.
“It hurt us having the (Sacred Heart) game canceled last week because of the hurricane, but overall we did well,” he said. “We had 33 kills in the game in three sets. We had a lot of good opportunities to swing on offense.”
The Trojans beat Raleigh on the road 25-14, 25-16 and 25-17 behind Malyssa Johnson’s 12 kills, Lainey Brumfield’s seven kills and Brianna Lee’s six. Amy Polk led West Marion’s improved passing, notching 27 of the team’s 29 assists.
Next up for West Marion is St. Andrew’s Episcopal, who will visit Foxworth Saturday night at 6. Pittman said the second round is going to be a little bit harder against St. Andrew’s and that he’s hoping the Trojans are able to carry over the way they were swinging at the net against Raleigh.
“They play defense really, really well. Their libero is very good. She’s probably one of the best I’ve seen around in a long time. She flies all over the back of the court, digging balls everywhere. They’ve got one big girl up front who blocks fairly well and another girl that hits pretty good off the back row,” he said. “They serve pretty well too so it’s going to be a challenge for us for sure.”
He added that if the Trojans play at the high level they’ve shown at times this season, they will compete with St. Andrew’s, but if they mistakes it’s going to be hard to overcome.
“We have to compete at a high level and keep that high level going throughout the whole match,” Pittman said.
With a win over St. Andrew’s, West Marion would face either Our Lady Academy or Yazoo County Tuesday with a trip to the state championship on the line.
