10/26/2008
Another crown for defending champion Blazers
Reprinted with permission from The News Dispatch

Adam Parkhouse
Sports Editor, The News-Dispatch


BOURBON, Ind. - In years past it may have become merely a formality, but winning trophies never gets old for the Marquette Blazers volleyball program.

The four-time defending state champions added another piece of hardware to their impressive collection Saturday, beating Oregon-Davis 25-12, 25-5, 25-18 to win the Triton Sectional.

"Today we did what we set out to do," said Marquette coach Troy Campbell, whose Blazers (31-4) were the overwhelming favorites in the tournament. "We stepped on the court and gave great energy on every single point."

The Blazers' ball control was impeccable throughout the title match, and the team was never seriously challenged.

O-D won three of the first four points in Game 1, but a five-point run that included four aces from junior setter Amber Cerrillos began to put the game away. Later, Brianna Gannon had two aces and Ashley Edmond had three kills in a six-point run to help seal the Game 1 win.

Marissa Disbrow, who closed Game 1 with a kill, served nine consecutive points after a sideout to start Game 2, giving the Blazers a 10-0 advantage. A kill from Gannon later gave Marquette a 21-2 advantage and a kill from Gannon gave Marquette a commanding 2-0 lead.

Game 3 saw a lot of Marquette backups get valuable playing time and the score was closer than the play indicated.

"We were able to play everyone," Campbell said. "For the first time I can say we have kids on our bench that could play for and start for a lot of other Class A teams."

The Bobcats did draw to within two at 20-18, but a kill from Edmond gave Cerrillos the serve, and she had four consecutive aces to finish the match and clinch the championship.

"It was a really good effort by our servers all around," Campbell said. Cerrillos wound up with a team-best 10 aces and the Blazers had 28 aces altogether.

Ashled Edmond had 11 kills in the championship match, adding to the 25 she racked up in Marquette's 25-11, 25-16, 25-20 semifinal win over South Central in the morning match.

"We played extremely well tonight (against O-D) but this morning we did not," Campbell said. "We didn't bring enough energy but we turned it up when we had to."

The Blazers move on to next Saturday's Caston Regional in Fulton, Ind., where they'll play the winner of the West Central Sectional.