As the season draws on, the Marion Patriots continue to draw closer to a number of preseason goals. In last night's three-set victory over Paragould (25-15, 25-9 and 25-9) at Fidelity Bank Arena, Marion (21-1 overall and 11-0 5A East) clinched at worst the No. 2 seed from the 5A East in the state tournament October 26-28. A Patriot victory Thursday would give Marion the No. 1 seed from the East and at least a share of the school's first conference title since 2016. "We came out a little slow in the first set but once we calmed down we were off to the races," said Marion coach Lisa Beasley. "It was just such a great team effort. I couldn't be any more proud of my girls." Marion responded to an early 9-4 Paragould run by scoring 21 of the final 27 points. Junior Kiah Rucker started the spurt by with a block at the net before Anna Caroline Fesmire lofted an assist to Rucker for a kill. A pair of Paragould errors helped Marion tie the set at nine. Fesmire dished assists to senior Daedrianna Cail for back-to-back points that gave Marion a 13-11 advantage before freshman Maggie Miller dealt helpers to senior Kora Wilson and junior Madison Allison for kills to force a Paragould timeout. Miller's deft passing continued to play a role into the first set as she assisted on kills by Kiara Ledezma, Wilson, Fesmire and Allison to help Marion earn a 25-15 opening-set victory. Marion served seven aces in the second set, three from Keith, two apiece from Maggie Miller and Wilson. Keith's first ace gave the Pats a 2-0 lead. Maggie Miller's one-timer swelled the Pat advantage to 8-3. Keith's second ace put Marion ahead 17-7 and her third one made the score 20-7. Wilson's second ace ran the lead to 22-8 and her third was good for a 24-8 lead. The Pats never trailed in the third set as Fesmire found Cail for the first two points before Fesmire assisted on an Allison kill for a 3-0 lead. Maggie Miller served consecutive aces as Marion pushed ahead 6-2. By the time Cail served an ace and Maggie Miller assisted on a Fesmire kill, Marion led 11-3 and Paragould had to call for time. Another Miller-to-Fesmire connection gave Marion its first double-digit advantage of the third set (14-4). Fesmire fed Cail for an 18-6 lead before Cail blocked a kill attempt at the net pushed the Pats ahead 20-6. A Wilson ace gave Marion a 22-8 lead before a Paragould error helped Marion earn a 25-9 third-set victory. Marion plays at Jonesboro Thursday night starting at 5 p.m. That contest will be livestreamed on MarionPatriots.com and on the Marion Patriots Activities Network mobile app.