JONESBORO --- Playing away from home is a challenge for just about any team. Except for the 2022 Marion Patriots, apparently. The Patriots headed north on I-555 Thursday night and never trailed to earn an impressive straight-sets victory (25-15, 25-15, and 25-20) over 5A East rival Nettleton to complete a season sweep of the Raiders (2-9-1 overall, 1-7 5A East) at Raider Gymnasium. Marion improved to 13-8 overall with its fourth consecutive conference road win, with a 6-3 mark in league action ahead of a crucial week beginning on Tuesday when the Pats host West Memphis and look to avenge an earlier loss when they travel on Thursday to Paragould. The Pats' only 2022 road league loss came in August in the league opener at Valley View, and Marion is 6-3 so far in neutral-site tournament play. Marion scored the first three points of the Nettleton match as junior Maggie Miller set twice for kills from Kiah Rucker and once for Kennedy Bullins. When Miller assisted on a Madison Allison kill and served an ace, the Marion lead was 5-1. Nettleton trimmed the lead to 10-8 when the Pats took advantage of a net violation, and a hitting error before Allison and Bullins logged kills for a 14-9 lead that forced a Nettleton timeout. Kaitlyn Austin served Marion to three straight points later in the set, highlighted by an ace, for an 18-11 lead. Marion salted the opening set away when Meredith Williams registered a pair of kills, blocked a Nettleton kill attempt, and Bullins logged two kills to clinch the 10-point margin in set No. 1. A three-minute respite between the first and second sets did little to slow the visitors as Marion scored the first five points of the second stanza behind two kills apiece from Rucker and Bullins. A Miller ace, two kills from Williams, and a point from Rucker pushed the Pats ahead 13-6. Rucker took center stage down the stretch of the second set, recording kills on three of four Marion points, the last of which gave the Pats a 22-10 lead. A Miller-to-Allison connection provided the final point of a second consecutive 25-15 set victory for the Pats. Nettleton didn't back down in the third set, swapping points with Marion into the middle stages when the Pats began to pull away. The closing run opened when Alexa Shinabery logged a kill, followed by a Rucker block. Three hitting errors gave Marion a 16-10 lead and forced a Nettleton timeout. A pair of Allison kills gave Marion a 20-11 lead, but a Nettleton run got the Raiders within five points three times down the stretch. The Pats turned the Raiders away when Williams blocked a pair of kills at the net and Rucker and Miller registered kills to provide the winning five-point margin. The West Memphis and Paragould games on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively will be broadcast live on MarionPatriots.com and on the Marion Patriots Activities Network mobile app.