Lady Eagles out of playoff picture after loss to Marcus

Sitting in a tie for second in District 8-5A and facing a 4-7 Allen squad they had swept earlier in district, Marcus' volleyball team didn't anticipate a dogfight on the road.

But that's exactly what the Lady Marauders received Tuesday night from the Lady Eagles as Marcus had to rally late in the fifth set to pull out the victory (25-18, 22-25, 25-19, 22-25, 15-9) and keep pace with crosstown rival Flower Mound for second in 8-5A.

Marcus got out to slow starts in four of the five sets against Allen, including digging a 5-1 hole in the decisive game. However, the Lady Marauders (8-4) stormed back to outscore Allen 14-4 down the stretch to pull out the victory.

"I wasn't really anticipating a close match but I guess I should have been," said Cristie Liles, Marcus head coach. "Maybe I should anticipate a tight one every night. We were flat all night and I don't really understand it. But we were down 5-1 in the fifth game and to come back and win ... that doesn't happen very often. So we got some character in there somewhere; it's just we pick and choose when we want to use it and we can't keep doing that."

Allen, meanwhile, sees its playoff hopes take a major hit as the Lady Eagles are two games out of fourth with two remaining against first-place Hebron followed by a tilt with the Lady Jaguars.

"We needed to win to stay in the mix," said Kelley Gregoriew, Allen head coach. "Now we have to rely on some others teams to kind of knock each other around. Our last three matches have all gone to five games and we've struggled to finish them out in the fifth. So now we have to sit and wait and see what else happens."

Early in the fifth with Marcus trailing, Regan McGuire and Liz Fortado sparked the Lady Marauder comeback. A kill and subsequent block-kill from McGuire pulled the Lady Marauders to within two at 5-3 early in the fifth, before Fortado notched kills on the next three points that went Marcus' way as the tally evened at 8-8. Later, after McGuire increased Marcus' lead to 13-9 with a block-kill, the Lady Eagles fell apart making an error into the net before miscommunications led to the final two points to give the Lady Marauders the win.

"Liz stepped up big time in that fifth game," Liles said. "She got some big hits and I think the girls kind of fed off that and got it going. I thought some of the kids showed great hustle and to come back from down 5-1 and find a way to win 15-9 was great. It actually looked like it does during practice."

Fortado finished with eight kills, McGuire had 15 kills and five blocks and Lauren Douglass recorded 14 kills. Kelsey Pry paced Marcus with 14 digs, while Lindsay Sales had 11 digs and Sam Sales posted 19 assists. Mattie Rainwater led the squad with 20 assists to go with 11 digs.

The Lady Eagles got out to fast starts in four of the five sets but had a tough time hanging on. Allen took four of the first five points in the first set before falling 25-18, saw a 4-0 lead evaporate in Game 2 before hanging on for the win, got tied up 22-22 in Game 4 after previously leading 19-14 before pulling out the set and let a 5-1 lead slip away in the fifth.

The Lady Eagles offense was powered by the tandem of Ashley Hooper and Camryn Frieberg, who contributed 14 and 13 kills, respectively. Tori Bates chipped in 10 kills.

In Allen's win in the fourth set, the Lady Eagles grabbed possession following a service error and finished off the set behind and ace from Kate Klepetka and kill by Hannah Fry.

"Both Ashley and Camryn have been pretty consistent all season long," Gregoriew said. "We've kind of relied on them to take care of the ball. I thought most of the team played well and had their moments. In certain games certain players were passing well. Tori came up with some big hits for us and Kelly Holden isn't a powerhouse but she finds ways to score."

But while the attack had its moments, Allen didn't have enough consistency and the loss knocked the Lady Eagles out of the playoff hunt.

"Defense and passing was the difference," Gregoriew said. "We were passing better in the fourth game and we were blocking better and did a good job of shutting down their middles. But if you can't pass and play defense, then it pretty much isn't going to happen."

Allen hosts Hebron at 7 p.m. Friday before closing on the road Tuesday against Flower Mound.

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