Marian overpowers rival Mercy, gets sweep
BIRMINGHAM » In years past, the Birmingham Marian volleyball team has taken its fair share of lumps from Farmington Hills Mercy.
The Marlins had the Mustangs number for multiple seasons until the tide turned at the end of the 2020 season, when Marian managed to get over the hump and top Mercy in the CHSL Tournament finals and Division 1 regional finals.
This year, the defending state champion Mustangs now find themselves in the role of the veteran team in this rivalry, facing off with a young and upset-minded Marlin squad.
The two collided in their first of two CHSL regular season matchups on Thursday night, and topranked Marian showed it wasn’t ready to give up the bragging rights to the rivalry.
Marian fended off No. 6 Mercy in the opening set, 25-19, before finishing things off with back-toback 25-15 sets for a sweep of the Marlins.
“I think we have a little bit of a complex still where we ask ourselves, ‘are we supposed to win in three?’ It’s always been a battle (with Mercy) these last three years. We need to get over that,” Marian coach Mayssa Cook said of now being in the role of the favorite. “We need to play our game. It doesn’t matter if it’s our rival (on the other side).”
Marian’s aggressive serving and hitting depth were the story in the game. The Mustangs collected 12 aces as a team and kept Mercy from getting into a consistent flow offensively.
“We definitely served aggressively. That’s something we focused on a lot in practice. You serve well, it makes everything else go a little bit smoother,” Cook said.
A pair of aces from senior, and Miss Volleyball finalist, Ava Brizard gave Marian an early 9-5 lead that would grow to eight points at 17-9.
Mercy would put together a 6-0 run in response off the serve of freshman Campbell Flynn. However, the Mustangs cranked up the hitting to finish the set. Senior Sophie Treder ended the Mercy run with an emphatic kill, while Brizard would add a couple of kills and a key block down the stretch.
Marian built off the strong finish to the first set by taking a 12-5 lead in the second and never looking back. Brizard and junior setter Ava Sarafa each had aces in the early rally.
Mercy didn’t have a response once Marian got hot. Senior middle Janiah Jones finished off the second set with a kill.
In the third set, it would be fellow Miss Volleyball finalist Sarah Sylvester that took over. The senior middle had four kills over the final eight Marian points in the final set.
“Sarah (and Janiah Jones) have both been really dominating in the middle against everyone we have played,” Cook said.
“Sarah has been hitting the ball consistently harder than she ever has, this season.”
The ability to turn to multiple hitters is what has Marian sitting at 22-1 on the season. The team is hitting .365 collectively on the season, with Sarafa able to run the offense effectively at setter.
“(Mercy) was really camping out on Ava Brizard a lot, so the versatility of being able to set our middles and our right side, and even Sophie in the back row (is important),” Cook said. “We are pretty versatile across all our hitters. Ultimately, I think that is why we are so hard to defend.”
Brizard finished with a team-high 13 kills, while Treder finished with eight and Jones had five.
Brizard, Sarafa and Evey Oegema each had multiple aces.
Mercy (14-4-1) is working with a young squad this season, as freshmen Flynn and Ella Craggs, as well as sophomore Anna Butler are all playing major roles in the offense.
Each had their moments in Thursday’s match with Marian, as the Marlins look to develop more consistency with their passing.