Aug. 21—It's been a steady climb for the Austin Black Bears under head coach April Marsh.
After making the state semifinals in her second season, they took the first step on their next journey upward on Thursday night, sweeping West Morgan 25-13, 25-19, 25-18.
"We have been working a lot on our first contact over the summer. Serve receive and defense, I thought we did a pretty good job with that today," Marsh said. "I felt like we were in system most of the game."
Last year, Austin started off the season with a two-set win over West Morgan where it rallied in both sets. It ended up going 45-9 and made the state tournament for the first time since 2004.
This year, it didn't have to rally.
"We want everyone to give us their best and Austin played a really great game," West Morgan head coach Kristen Parrish said. "At the end of the day, their serve-receive is what beat us."
Austin played clean defense, only allowing a few errors in the match. Once it got going, setter Maggie Jae Marsh, who is April's daughter, didn't let up. She ended the match with 21 assists and eight kills.
"I love being a leader. I like working with my passers. I like working with my hitters, them telling me what they need," Maggie Jae Marsh said. "I just like running a good offense. That's just one of the passions I have."
For West Morgan, it was still knocking off the rust with unforced errors. However, Parrish said she saw some sparks of the team that also went to the state tournament last season.
"The amount of potential is out of the ceiling," she said. "For us, it's all about staying consistent."
Every time West Morgan threatened to take a set, Austin pulled away late. In the second, the Black Bears scored seven straight to win. In the third, they finished off the game with six straight.
Last fall, Austin fell to eventual state champion and private school McGill-Toolen in the state tournament.
With the AHSAA implementing a private-public split in the reclassification that went into effect this season, Maggie Jae said the Black Bears only have one thing in mind.
"Our goal is to win state, and it always has been," she said. "Every day, we work to get better, we know what we need to improve on."
Austin's Amari Woods led the Black Bears in kills with 11, while Addison Garth had five blocks.
Last year's Daily player of the year Haniyah Standridge led West Morgan with 15 kills. Lila Mae Witt picked up 22 assists and Raygen Muse had eight kills.
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