NEWS

CHUCK LIVINGSTON
Marion Patriots Activities Network | 11/6/2024
Marion Patriots Activities Network | 11/6/2024
SIX MARION VOLLEYBALLERS EARN POSTSEASON AWARDS
Following a 23-8 season and a 5A East conference co-championship, six Marion volleyball players garnered postseason awards from the Arkansas Activities Association and from league coaches.
Marion senior Maggie Miller, junior Kaitlyn Austin, and sophomore Kendall Brown earned all-state honors for their excellent 2024 seasons. Brown also earned 5A all-state tournament team honors, while Miller and Shinabery also landed on the AVCA best and brightest third team, and on the AHSCA all-star roster.
Those three joined senior Alexa Shinabery, and juniors Kennedy Bullins and Abbigale Simmons on the all-conference list. Bullins and Simmons added a Class 5A all-state honorable mention nod.
Miller earned a second straight all-state nod in her senior season, and she also garnered an all-conference nod in 2022 as a sophomore. The Itawamba Community College commit shattered Marion's all-time assists record in her four seasons on the varsity roster, amassing 2,248 career assists, an average of 7.4 helpers per set. She added 905 career digs and 152 aces. Miller logged a team-high 474 assists this season with 263 digs and 35 aces served.
Austin earned a third straight all-league nod this fall, and she landed on the Class 5A all-state list for the first time. The talented junior racked up 392 digs in 2024, stacked 199 kills, and served 23 aces while playing most of the team's rotations throughout the fall.
Brown followed up her all-league freshman season of 2023 with an all-state nod this fall, when she amassed team-highs in kills (341) and blocks (87), while she also stacked 71 digs and served 25 aces.
Shinabery capped her Marion volleyball career with a second straight all-league appearance as the versatile senior finished with 795 digs, 452 kills, 91 aces, and 63 assists in her four years with the Patriot volleyball program. The Mississippi Gulf Coast College commit racked up 246 digs this fall with 166 kills, 34 aces, and 26 blocks in an excellent all-around season.
Bullins garnered all-conference honors a third time this season after back-to-back all-state years in 2022 and 2023. The junior logged 111 kills, 24 blocks, and 18 digs this season despite missing more than half the season with injury.
Simmons tallied a team-high 436 digs in her second full season as the team's libero, and the junior was tied for the team lead with 45 aces served. She added 110 assists, which is good for third place on the club.
Chuck Livingston
Marion Patriots Activities Network | 11/6/2024
Marion Patriots Activities Network | 11/6/2024