Anytime Marion and Valley View get together on the volleyball court, it's bound to produce a memorable ending. After all, the Patriots and Blazers are two of the better volleyball programs in the state no matter the classification, and have been for some time. But Tuesday night's 5A East conference opener may have taken the cake. In front of a raucous, capacity crowd inside 3M Transit Arena, Marion topped last season's 5A East champions and state runners-up in the first two sets, before seeing the Blazers rally to win the third and fourth frames. In the decisive fifth set, a race to 15, Marion erased an early two-point deficit to outpace the Blazers and take early control of the conference standings as the Pats seek their second league title in three seasons. Marion 3, Valley View 2 (25-22, 26-24, 24-26, 23-25, and 15-13). The Patriots improved to 7-4 overall and 1-0 in league action while Valley View fell to 5-3 and 0-1. "Obviously, I'm excited, I'm happy, and I'm proud of the girls," said Marion coach Lisa Beasley. "At times tonight, we played extremely well, and at others we didn't. But the important part is we did our part to win a big one at home." Marion started hot in the opening set, bolting out to a 6-1 lead, featuring three kills from sophomore Kennedy Bullins, but Valley View struck back and tied the initial frame at 15 on a Marion hitting error. The Pats pulled away in the first set behind an error, two kills by freshman Kendall Brown, one from Maggie Miller, and the clincher from Kaitlyn Austin as Marion won 25-22. The Blazers hit Marion early in the second set, scoring 7 of the first 9 points, as the Pats called for time. Valley View maintained its lead until the midway point when Marion got kills from Brown and Austin wrapped around a Bullins block that tied the second stanza at 13. A Miller ace and a net violation gave the Pats a 20-18 bulge, and when Brown notched a kill and a block, the Pats led 24-22. But the Blazers rallied behind a pair of kills from Annika Willbanks and an error to tie the set at 24, but another Brown kill and a Taylor Chamness ace pushed Valley View to the brink with a 26-24 Marion victory. Marion looked poised to earn a crucial conference sweep in set No. 3, when another Chamness ace gave the hosts a 19-18 lead, but the Blazers scored 4 of the next 5 points to lead by as many as 3 points down the stretch. A Bullins kill tied the set at 24 but a net violation and a Brennan Holland kill gave Valley View a dramatic 26-24 victory. The Blazers closed Marion out again in the fourth set, though the Patriots got within 24-23 late on an Alexa Shinabery ace, but the Blazers took a 25-23 decision to set up a fifth and deciding set. "They won the serve-receive game a lot of the night," said Beasley. "They did a better job blocking later on, but our message was to keep swinging and not play tentative because that's not going to beat a team like that." The teams split the first 10 points of the final set, but Marion embarked on the first run of the clincher when the Pats took advantage of an error, a ball hit four times, a Brown kill, and a Shinabery ace that gave the hosts a 9-6 lead and forced a Blazer timeout. After Valley View tied the score at 10, the teams alternated the next 6 points, hitting the late stages of the match square at 13. That's when Shinabery struck a ball crosscourt and over the net behind a scrambling Valley View defense the Patriots clinched a dramatic 15-13 victory in set No. 5. "We would have taken this one anyway we could get it for a lot of reasons, but we have played 28 sets in the last 7 days," said Beasley. "I know we got tired late tonight, but we dug deep and that shows a lot of character. Even when things didn't go our way at times tonight, we still fought, and that's what you want from a team.” WHAT'S NEXT? Marion continues league action on Thursday when the Patriots travel to Nettleton, where varsity action will begin at 5 p.m. The Nettleton contest will be broadcast live on MarionPatriots.com and on the Marion Patriots Activities Network mobile app. 5A EAST RESULTS FROM AUGUST 29 Marion 3, Valley View 2 Batesville 3, Paragould 1 Greene County Tech 3, Searcy 2 Nettleton 3, W. Memphis 2 5A EAST STANDINGS AS OF AUGUST 30 Marion 1-0 Batesville 1-0 Greene County Tech 1-0 Nettleton 1-0 Valley View 0-1 Paragould 0-1 Searcy 0-1 W. Memphis 0-1