Playing in its brand new gymnasium, the Marcus volleyball team trounced rival Arlington 25-16, 25-16, 25-9 on Tuesday in the season opener for both programs.

    Mary Koehler led the young Marauders with nine kills while teammate Katie Neisler added 19 digs. Mallory Sando had 16 assists and dropped in three of the team’s five aces. Marcus (1-0 entering a Thursday clash with Amarillo) will compete in the Duncanville Tournament this weekend where they will face the winner of the Clear Lake/Mesquite match up from Round 1.

    “It was a good crowd for our first game in the new gym, and all I can say is it feels good to be undefeated in our home gym,” Marcus head coach Cristie Liles joked. “For us not being in school yet, we had a really good crowd.”

    And what made it even better, Liles said, was that her team didn’t crack with the extra attention. In fact, she intimated that her team played practically flawless for a season opener.

    “I thought we played very solid out there, we were confident and we didn’t get rattled at any point in the contest,” she said. “I’m not going to say I was surprised, but they certainly handled their nerves a lot better than I thought they would for the first game. It was a good night.”

    Marcus jumped on Arlington early and often and used its serve game to disrupt Arlington’s timing. It was a complete about-face from the season opener last year between these two teams. Marcus still one that contest, but won in four sets by an average margin of 3.5 points.

    “We just kept going after them,” Liles said.

    If Marcus is looking for a quick start, history shows that they just might get it. Last year, they responded to the win over Arlington with a 3-2 record in the Duncanville Tournament. They finished fourth overall, and this year will get a first round bye.  The bye, however, is unrelated to last year’s finish.

    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.

    Marcus will be in three elite pre-season tournaments at Duncanville, Allen and Pearland and are also slated to face Lake Highland, Allen and Plano in one-on-one action to name a few -- all this to gear up for a District 6-5A schedule that includes juggernauts Southlake Carroll, Coppell, Flower Mound, Hebron and Lewisville. Last year, the schedule ended with a three-way tie for first place.