Marcus head volleyball coach Cristie Liles is excited about the prospects of this year’s District 6-5A race, which begins this Friday at home against rival Lewisville. But she’s not expecting an easy road.

No coach should when it comes to this year’s schedule. Five of the six teams in 6-5A (Marcus, Coppell, Flower Mound, Southlake Carroll and Hebron) are ranked in the latest Dallas Morning News’ area poll. Coppell was the highest at No. 2 and Marcus was ranked one spot below Flower Mound at No. 7. Carroll is 3^rd and Hebron is the fifth ranked squad.

“We had a three-way tie for first place last year between us, Southlake and Coppell and I could see it being a six-way tie before this year is all said and done,” Liles said following her team’s 25-11, 25-11, 25-13 win over Mesquite on Tuesday. “You have five teams right there battling for four spots, and you really can’t forget about Lewisville either.”

Liles hopes her team is prepared. The Marauders have worked their way through an arduous preseason schedule in which they finished 20-12. On Tuesday, the team played another solid game in the win over Mesquite. Lauren Douglas posted 15 kills while Hailey Neisler added 12 kills. Katie Neisler had 20 digs and Michelle Wise added 10 digs of her own. Mallory Sando had 36 assists.

“We played well, we mixed things up and we passed very well,” Liles added. “We had a good match a few days earlier against Plano and I think this was another good match all the way around.”

Liles added that her team has learned the importance of these non-district games.

“This group is unique because they are very much about playing for something,” she said. “They are realizing that there is a reason for these games, which is to make us a better team heading into district. I just hope they rise to the occasion that they’ve been waiting for so long for now – these ten games.”

Don’t look for Liles to take it easy on her youthful roster – which returns six players from a year ago, two of which saw significant playing time for a team that finished 32-13. They also come into this season having advanced to the third round of playoffs the last two years.

Marcus should feel pretty confident heading into the game against Lewisville. The Marauders won both meetings with Lewisville last year and have dominated the all-time series. In fact, Marcus has not lost to Lewisville during Liles’ tenure.