Marion senior Daedrianna Cail met the Greenwood kill attempt at the net and rifled it back toward the floor at Fidelity Bank Arena. As the ball bounced on the Greenwood side of the court, two years of frustration exited Marion's home court in a vacuum of cheers as public address announcer Tyler Bennett blared the MHS fight song to the masses. Cail's block gave Marion a dramatic 15-12 victory in the decisive fifth set, sending the Patriots to the semifinals for the first time since 2016. Marion (27-1 overall) outlasted defending state champion Greenwood (21-13) in five sets (25-14, 25-7, 27-29, 25-22 and 15-12). Greenwood eliminated Marion in the first round of the 2019 state tournament and in last year's quarterfinal round. Marion beat Greenwood for the 2015 Class 6A state title. Marion, outright 5A East champions, plays 5A Central co-champion Benton Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m. at Fidelity Bank Arena. “I'm just so thrilled and happy to win,” said Marion coach Lisa Beasley. “I think our girls are hungry, they want it. They were determined and fought through it and you could see it in the fifth set.” Marion senior and team captain Anna Caroline Fesmire fueled the Marion attack, logging 20 kills, dishing 24 assists and serving seven aces. Daedrianna Cail, an Arkansas-Little Rock commit, tallied a team-high 26 kills and added four blocks. Senior Lauryn Keith handed out a team-high 28 assists and served three aces. Madison Keith, twin to Lauryn, racked up a team-high 31 digs and served an ace. Kora Wilson tallied 29 digs, logged four kills and served three aces. Emerson Miller logged 12 digs. Kiah Rucker pounded six kills and logged five blocks. Winning a dramatic fifth set was likely not on the minds of anyone wearing Marion red, white and blue during the first two sets, when the Pats bullied the Bulldogs. Fesmire gave Marion a 12-8 lead in the first set by serving three aces over four Patriot points for a 12-8 lead, forcing a Greenwood timeout. Fesmire turned a Lauryn Keith pass into a kill for a 20-13 Marion advantage and Rucker dragged Marion to the finish line, recording two kills and a block to cover three of the last five Marion points. Wilson had the hot hand serving to open the second set, tallying a pair of aces while Fesmire registered a block and three kills to stake Marion to a 13-1 lead that topped out at 15-1. Marion pushed back ahead 22-5 following a hitting error before settling for a 25-7 victory. “The first two sets, everything seemed to be working,” said Beasley. “Every cylinder was firing. Everybody was playing and everyone was on.” The Greenwood response was quick. The Bulldogs began hitting over Marion's blocks at the net to boost their offensive attack. The maneuver paid instant dividends as Greenwood erased a late 20-15 Marion deficit to to a 29-27 win in the third set. Greenwood's momentum carried into the fourth set. The Bulldogs took an 18-17 lead to force a Marion timeout. The Bulldog lead swelled to 20-17 as Beasley burned her second timeout in an attempt to stem the run. Marion got within 24-22 on back-to-back kills by Rucker and Cail but a kill gave Greenwood a 25-22 victory to set the stage for the final race to 15 points. Lauryn Keith got Marion started with an ace and an error gave the Pats a 2-0 lead. Marion pushed back ahead on Cail's first of six kills in the fifth set. Fesmire turned consecutive Lauryn Keith passes into kills to stake Marion to a 6-4 lead. But Greenwood didn't back down as the Bulldogs swapped punches with Marion, taking a 12-11 lead to force a Patriot timeout. Cail responded to the stoppage by turning a Fesmire pass into a kill to tie the set at 12. A Cail block gave the hosts a 13-12 lead before Lauryn Keith set for Cail's kill and a 14-12 Marion advantage. Following a Greenwood timeout, Cail skied for the game-winning kill as Marion flooded the court in celebration. “This is amazing. It feels unreal,” said Cail. “It was a great learning experience.” “We played together and played as a team and picked each other up,” said Beasley. “We found a way to get the win.”