Arlington Martin's comeback comes up short

By David Thomas

dthomas@star-telegram.com

ABILENE -- Arlington Martin advanced to the Class 5A Region I semifinal volleyball tournament because it became a team that learned how to come back.

On Friday night, the Lady Warriors' bid for a comeback fell short. So did their bid to play for the regional championship.

Instead, Flower Mound Marcus advanced with a 25-22, 17-25, 25-16, 25-22 victory at McMurry University. The Marauders will face Coppell in today's regional final.

Martin made the Marauders earn it.

Marcus (29-18) led 7-3 early in a final game that featured eight ties after that point. Martin (33-14) took its first lead of the fourth game, 19-17, with a five-point run started by two kills from senior outside hitter Ivy Baresh and two aces from junior Claire Kilpatrick.

The Marauders answered with three points of their own to regain the lead at 20-17. When Martin gained a 22-20 advantage, Marcus again came back to tie the score at 22.

It was the last tie of the match. Marcus' Lauren Douglass had a kill and a block to help the Marauders finally put Martin away.

Martin coach Tracy Perez-Petersen said her team became "a good fight-back team" late in the season.

"Early in the season, we would just give up," she said. "But toward the end of the season and playoffs, we started fighting for our wins, and that made a difference."

Friday night, the Lady Warriors fought back but came up short.

"Marcus has good hitters," Perez-Petersen said. "We just struggled shutting them down."

David Thomas, 817-390-7697

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