Source: Hometown Life

Author: Tim Smith

With a lethal and varied attack that rarely takes a break, Farmington Hills Mercy blew past Grosse Pointe South in Tuesday’s Class A volleyball regional semifinal at Farmington High School.

The Catholic League champion Marlins might be sneaking a peek at what nemesis Bloomfield Hills Marian might be doing during the state tournament — the teams could meet in a semifinal on Nov. 16 at Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek.

Veteran coach Loretta Vogel would like to stop what she said is a recent trend of opponents going on to the championship after knocking her team out of the tournament. That happened last year when Novi ousted Mercy and then won it all.

“Seems like every year, whoever bumps us ends up winning,” said Vogel, whose team routed South 25-5, 25-7 and 25-20 to improve to 48-7-1.

Mercy had several players who took turns pelting hard shots over the net for points, sometimes in strings of five, six or seven.

One of several heavy hitters at the net was sophomore Jess Mruzik, with nine kills and three blocks.

“Credit to my setter, too, Julie Bishop’s doing a great job running the offense,” Mruzik said. “It’s tough for a bunch of us to have a freshman setter come in, but we’ve really put our trust in her and she hasn’t let us down so far this season.”

Others who were hard to stop Tuesday were junior Logan Beyer (11 kills) and freshman Charli Atiemo (seven kills).

But no matter how tough the Marlins looked Tuesday, they know another big test awaits them Thursday. The regional title match against pesky Livonia Stevenson is slated for 6 p.m.