Marion sweeps past Gate City in Region 2D tourney

MARION — Preparation is fine, but it doesn't always pay off in the end.Aubrey Yarber and Kayla Cline had 11 kills apiece despite Gate City's best efforts to focus on them, leading Marion to a 25-17, 25-21, 25-21 Region 2D tournament quarterfinal victory over the Blue Devils on Thursday night at the Hurricane House.Gate City led early in the opening set, but couldn't hang on, and then had to rally from huge deficits, but couldn't get the needed points to extend the match."I am proud of them coming back. We just didn't come out as strong as we expected to come out. We have had a couple of good days at practice and we just had a slow start," Gate City second-year head coach LeAnn Overbay said. "Maybe if we had started out a little bit on fire a little bit quicker it might have been a different story."Marion, which has won the last four Southwest District regular season and tournament championships, will face John Battle in the Region 2D semifinals on Saturday, with the winner advancing to the Class 2A state tournament. Ridgeview and Wise County Central will meet in the other semifinal on Saturday."It has been a while since we had a region championship so we have got that on our radar and hope that we can see it all the way through," said Marion head coach Amanda Hanshew, whose Hurricanes won the Class 2A state title in 2016 after falling in the finals the year before. "A good group of girls, I hope they can be successful."Gate City, which will lose four seniors to graduation, had a frustrating season at times this season, being unable to hold leads late in matches."When you lose 10 games by two, that is tough," Overbay said. "It is tough to fight through that last little bit and get that mindset of just finishing. That is what we have kind of struggled with all season."Emma Belmonte had six kills, Ava Jennings added eight digs and Sophie Webb dished out 17 assists for the Blue Devils, which was tied with the Scarlet Hurricanes at 15-15 in the opening set before the 'Canes went on a late run to take a one-set lead behind the strong player of Yarber and Cline."We prepared all we could. We were prepared for No. 5 (Yarber), we were prepared for No. 2 (Cline), those are their two best hitters," Overbay said. "We were prepared our lineup exactly like we wanted to. We just didn't get the job done."Gate City had to use plenty of energy in the next two sets, falling behind 11-2 in the second set before rallying to get within 13-12 before the 'Canes pulled ahead for good. It was more of the same in the final set, with Marion taking a 12-5 lead before the Blue Devils got within 23-20, but kills by Kyra Mullis and Yarber ended the match to the relief of Hanshew."I told the girls this is a region match, nobody is quitting, nobody is giving up, there is a reason why they are here'," Hanshew said. "We can't take a breath, if we get a lead we have got to finish."Marion also received 27 digs from Cline and 10 service points and five digs from Yarber. They were complemented by contributions from Hanshew's daughter, Macie, who had 26 assists, 10 service points, five digs and four kills. Macy Osborne added 14 service points and 11 digs, while Sarah Blevins tallied nine service points in the win."(Yarber and Cline) are pretty tough. They have really stepped their game up and we do rely on them a lot for scoring and just being those all-around players where they can attack from the front row and the back row," Hanshew said. "That makes a big difference for our offense."Gate City will lose Emma Jobe, Adrianna Lane, MaKenna Nidiffer and Cacey McDavid to graduation."We are definitely going to miss them. I don't think that they ever gave up," Overbay said. "Emma Jobe, she is really the foundation of our back row and she does a great job with being the libero. We are really going to miss her."I think we have got some kids that are really going to step up next year too. I don't doubt that one bit."