Eshnaur leads Russellville past Marion for 6A crown

Hunter Eshnaur stepped up when her team needed a spark, earning most-valuable-player honors for herself and a state volleyball championship for Russellville.

Eshnaur recorded a match-high 17 kills, three straight to end the match in a 25-22, 25-21, 27-25 victory over Marion in the Class 6A final Saturday at Bank of the Ozarks Arena.

“They just kept going to her and going to her and going to her,” Rusellville coach Cindy Jones said. “With the way she was on, they just needed to keep going her way. She’s a super player.”

The Lady Cyclones secured their fifth state championship, second in the last three years.

Rusellville (33-3) kept from falling behind in the clinching set and had four championship points at 24-20 before Marion (24-7) rallied with five straight points on the strong serve of Hope Phipps. Diane Phillips had kills on three of the five points as Marion went ahead 25-24 at set point.

“In our timeout, I told them that whatever you do, you go out there and fight one point at a time: ‘Don’t lay down on me.’ They didn’t,” Marion coach Lisa Beasley said. “‘They’re a great group of kids and great group of competitors. And they’re all coming back.”

Eshnaur was there, however, to seal the match, confusing the Marion block with power and finesse.

Until the end, Russellville kept fighting off Marion advances. The Lady Patriots led 14-5 in the second set with flawless volleyball but then committed eight errors and fell behind 21-16.

“It’s always disappointing to see a lead go away like that,” Beasley said. “I thought we could maybe do something in that second set, but we just made a couple of mental errors and silly mistakes. A little miscommunication, and that can hurt you.”

Marion trimmed it to 23-21, but Eshnaur polished it off with a kill and an ace. She keyed the comeback with nine second-set kills.

“There are times like that set where I just tell them to keep setting her,” Jones said. “She wants to win so badly that she’s going to do whatever it takes.”

Russellville capped the first two sets with aces, Madison McKinley scoring the first. McKinley had a productive first frame with three kills and two blocks, helping the Lady Cyclones fight back after Marion overcame a 12-5 deficit. McKinley finished with six kills. Sara Betts led the Lady Patriots with 10 kills. Phillips and Annalee Parker added nine kills each.