It took just 50 minutes for Knoxville to brush aside Clarke in the first round of the class 3A regional volleyball tournament Monday night as the Panthers routed the Indians 25-5, 25-9, and 25-9. Knoxville gained control early on in the match and never gave Clarke a chance to gain any momentum. Coach Mollie Keitges told KRLS Sports her team came out ready and did just about anything it wanted.

Keitges:
“I think the girls just controlled the game from start to finish, served aggressively and that’s going to be really important going forward, and our hitters were aggressive and just controlled the net. Marley was smart and ran the offense well and mixed it up. It was a really good night of what I wanted to see to get us ready for the remainder of the postseason.”

Marley McKay had 27 assists along with nine digs and was 17/17 serving with six aces; she had a stretch where she served 13 consecutive points in set one. Brittany Bacorn had 12 kills and eight digs, Reilly Finarty went 18/19 serving with three aces and Maggie Wilkins had 23 digs. Knoxville is now 26-7 and will host Centerville on Wednesday in the regional semi-final.