In a championship boxing match, two prize fighters stand toe to toe and exchange blows with both refusing to succumb because of their incredible will to win.

Last night's volleyball exhibition between reigning Class A state champion, Marian High School, and seven time Wyoming Conference champs and District 2 title holder, Holy Redeemer, contained the same drama that two elite boxers bring into the ring.Marian won by a knockout with scores of 25-21, 25-15, and 25-12."We played our game tonight," said Fillies' coach John Fallabel. "We had a solid defense with good serves too. We like to play aggressively and attack so the up tempo pace was perfect for our team."In the first game, the two powerhouses slugged it out back and forth. There were five lead changes until Marian junior, Maureen Kloap led her team with five service points to a 12-7 early advantage. The Royals battled back to come within two points at 23-21, but Marian senior, Emily Pilla, whose three game effort resulted in five kills, and five digs, served an ace in between the Royals' front and back line to secure the win."We concentrate on the basics everyday in practice," said Fallabel. "They are passing, hitting, and serving and it all came together tonight.'In the second game, the score was tied several times before Marian, losing at 10-9, went on a six - point run. Holy Redeemer struggled with numerous service faults that led to its downfall."We are usually very good with our serves,' said Royals' coach John Kablick. "Tonight we came in at around 45% and that just won't get it done if we expect to win."In the third game, Marian jumped out to an 8-2 lead as Holy Redeemer continued to give away points with serves that either hit the net or landed beyond the end line. Ahead by eight, the Fillies finished off the Royals with a 9-2 run.Senior Abby O'Donnell had a monster night for the Fillies with three kills, 19 assists and four digs. Contributions were also made by senior, Alex Stroia with four kills, two service aces and eight digs, senior, Lauren Neitz, who had nine digs, and junior middle hitter, Abby Stankiewitch, who nailed six kills.Despite its highly regarded reputation and expectation to succeed, Kablick was not surprised by Marian's sweep."This was exactly what I expected," he said. "We graduated mostly all of our team. (26-4 last year) The girls have virtually no varsity experience and at times they played timidly. We will get to where we want to be and by the end of the season we will again be a very dangerous team."Kablick spoke of reaching top - level performance while Fallabel, even with his team's dominating victory, talked about a need to improve all facets of his team's game."We have to get better if we expect to make a run at defending our title," he said. "This group is just about where last year's group was at this time which is a good thing. We found out last week when we played a team like Berks Catholic who has very tall players, that they will give us trouble so we have to prepare for those kinds of opponents as well."If last night's exhibition is a foreshadow of another outstanding season for the Marian volleyball team, then contenders for the crown better beware. The champs are swinging from both sides of the net and are preparing to earn a lot of wins this season by knockout.