SEARCY --- When the Marion School District announced its innovative new hybrid calendar that calls for two weeks off between the first and second quarters of the school year, some wondered how a break like that might affect athletics. However, after Marion's volleyball team vanquished Searcy at Lion Arena Thursday night in three sets (25-17, 25-20, and 25-21), the Patriots have proved a team can stay the course during downtime. Marion (21-6-1 overall, 13-0 5A East) capped a 4-1 run during its two-week fall break, going 4-0 against league competition and dropping its only match at defending Class 4A state champion Brookland last week in four sets. The Patriots finish their 2023 regular season next week with home dates against 5A East rival Batesville on Tuesday before playing host to Class 6A Jonesboro on Thursday. Both games will be played at 3M Transit Arena and broadcast live on MarionPatriots.com and the Marion Patriots Activities Network mobile app. Marion fashioned an 8-3 lead on Searcy early in the first set on Thursday night as junior Maggie Miller set Kennedy Bullins for kills twice, Alexa Shinabery once, and Miller added a block and an ace in that run. Marion maintained its five-point lead until late in the first set when the Pats strung together four of five points, starting when Kendall Brown blocked a Searcy shot and turned a Miller pass into a kill, and when Shinabery served an ace for a 20-13 Marion lead, Searcy called time. Marion closed out the hosts down the stretch behind Brown, who blocked another shot, and tallied a pair of kills as the Pats won by eight. The Pats stayed sharp after winning the first set, taking an early 7-3 lead when Reese Goodwin tallied a kill. But Searcy fought within 7-6 when Miller came up with a kill, Shinabery served an ace, Kaitlyn Austin handled a Miller pass for a kill, and when Searcy couldn't return a Marion serve to give the visitors an 11-6 lead, the Lions called time. The Lions rallied after the stoppage, working within 16-14 as Marion burnt a timeout. From there, sophomore Abbi Simmons served an ace, Miller came up with another kill, Bullins blocked a pair of Searcy kills, and when Shinabery slammed home a kill, Marion led 22-18, and the Pats took a 2-0 lead in the match when Austin logged a kill. Marion looked prime to run off with the third set against Searcy, taking early leads of 6-2 and 11-3 as Shinabery, Bullins, Brown, and Austin each came up with two kills apiece. Marion's largest lead of the third set was 20-7 following a Searcy hitting error. But Searcy chipped away from there, getting as close as 24-21 late in the set before a Searcy error gave Marion its 13th 5A East victory of the year. WHAT'S NEXT? The Patriots finish their 2023 regular season next week with home dates against 5A East rival Batesville on Tuesday before playing host to Class 6A Jonesboro on Thursday. Both games will be played at 3M Transit Arena, and both will be broadcast live on MarionPatriots.com and on the Marion Patriots Activities Network mobile app. CLASS 5A STATE TOURNAMENT Marion now knows its entire schedule for this year's Class 5A state tournament in Searcy and potential state final. The Pats open their run at the single-elimination tournament on Tuesday, October 24 at Searcy's Lion Arena against the No. 4 seed from the 5A Central at 4 p.m. Should Marion win that contest, the Pats would play at 2 p.m., Wednesday afternoon, and if Marion makes the state semifinals then the Pats would play at 1 p.m. Thursday afternoon. Should Marion advance to the state final at Hot Springs' Bank OZK Arena, that match would be played at 7 p.m., Saturday, October 28. All of Marion's state tournament games at Searcy would be broadcast live on MarionPatriots.com and on the Marion Patriots Activities Network YouTube channel. The final could be viewed on AETN. 5A EAST RESULTS FROM 10/12 Marion 3, Searcy 0 Valley View 3, Nettleton 0 Paragould 3, Greene Co. Tech 1 Batesville-West Memphis went late 5A EAST RESULTS ON 10/13 Marion 13-0 Valley View 10-3 Paragould 9-4 Batesville 7-5 Greene Co. Tech 5-8 Searcy 3-10 Nettleton 3-10 W. Memphis 1-11