Marquette faces strong Mediapolis

by Chris Faulkner

Mediapolis High School volleyball coach Dennis Jandrey has borrowed from the playbook of the late Bud McLearn, Montrose native and longtime girls basketball coach at Mediapolis High School.

"He always talked about getting your kids to play hard every night," Jandrey said. "He didn't believe in peaking. We try to instill that in our kids."

So expect another strong outing from the Bullettes, 28-4-5 and rated sixth in the state, when they host West Point Marquette (19-11-2) in a Class 1A regional quarterfinal match at 7 tonight.

Marquette lost to Aquinas Monday night and therefore plays district champion Mediapolis, which swept New London 15-12, 15-9, 15-4.

"I thought we played with a lot of emotion," Coach Jandrey said. "We got that emotion level up a bit. We served pretty well also."

Even though the score of Game 3 was lopsided, the Tigers put up a fight. It took more than a half hour for the Bullettes to finish that game, and thus the match.

"A Maureen Heath team is going to play good defense," Jandrey said of the New London coach. "For the most part that's what her team did."

Marquette coach Melissa Freesmeier said the Warriors are going to "have to be at the top of our game."

But Coach Jandrey expects a tough contest for two reasons:

"No. 1: They've changed some things up a bit," Jandrey said. "They're trying to get things right. Watching them on the video, they're playing good volleyball.

"They've mixed up their lineup a little bit. Obviously it's working for them," Jandrey said, pointing to Marquette's 15-3 romp in the first game of Monday's match with Aquinas.

"No. 2: They have that tradition down there at Marquette," Jandrey said. "They have a great fan base. They're going to bring it out and they always do."

Mediapolis boasts a balanced attack, led by Jo Kester, a 5-10 senior middle hitter. The rest of the starters are: Brenda Nelson, 5-10 senior middle hitter; Margaret Kuntzler, 5-7 senior outside hitter; Ashlee Baker, 5-7 senior outside hitter; Krista Wirt, 5-11 senior right side hitter, and Ashlei Jandrey, 5-7 senior setter.

Two defensive specialists rotate in: Meta Kramer and Sarah Schulte, both 5-6.

-Sports Editor-