COAL TOWNSHIP - Marian's powerful volleyball team continued its quest toward a third-straight PIAA Class A state championship game appearance.

The Fillies had few problems in sweeping once-beaten Towanda in the opening round of the state tournament on Tuesday at Shamokin Area High School.Marian used outstanding net play, terrific passing and sets, and mental toughness to roll to a 25-21, 25-21 and 25-19 victory.Against a Black Tigers (20-2) squad that captured both Northern Tier League and District 4 championships, Marian knew it would have to be on top of its game."We knew coming in that Towanda was good," said 6-foot Marian senior Abby Stankiewitch."They looked very scary at times before the game," suggested sophomore standout outside hitter Gianna Agosti."Watching them warm up, with all that (height) it sure got my attention as well as my teammates," offered outside hitter Jasmine Mooney."Hey they're a darn good team," said Fillies' coach John "Doc" Fallabel before the first serve. "They've gotta be good, they have only one loss."Now it's two losses.The big difference between the teams came down to setting. While Courtney McCall had another strong game for the Fillies, the Black Tigers struggled in that aspect of the game"They really didn't have a good setter and that hurt them," Fallabel said.Despite the sweep, Fallabel knows the Fillies (19-2) can play better."We did some great things tonight, but we still make those mistakes," he said.Fallabel cringes when he sees the stats. "Our service errors (8) and return errors (25) are a killer. But we're working on it in practice and I feel that we are getting much, much better."One of the stretches where the Fillies struggled came in the opening game when Towanda rallied to tie the score 11-11 thanks to four straight Marian errors.But there was no buckle in the Fillies."We got really going late in that first set," Stankiewitch said. "Once we grabbed the lead, I felt we had control of the set."Agosti said, "Once we got that (set) win, we all got more confidence." Marian jumped out to an 11-8 lead in the second game before getting called for a carry and committing more return errors that eventually tied the score."I really wasn't all that worried after they tied the score," said Stankiewitch.And she was spot-on with her assessment.Back to back kills from Courtney McCall and Stankiewitch ignited a firestorm. Abby Pilla added an ace during her serve, Maureen Kloap also aced and before you knew it, Marian had a commanding 24-16 lead en route to the second game victory.Towanda had one more gasp left as it jumped out to an 11-7 lead in the third game.But after a timeout, Marian responded bolting to a 20-13 lead. The kills were raining all over during the outburst as Stankiewitch, Kloap and Mooney all took turns finishing off points. Elena Beckett eventually closed out the match with a kill.FRANKLY, DOC … One of Fallabel's biggest concerns coming in were the referees. "Once I saw the District 11 referees I felt at ease," he said. "I don't care for District 2 officials and you can quote me on that. The last time we played with District 2 officials they were inferior."BEST WE EVER HAD … "Jasmine (Mooney) is the best we ever had, best we ever had," Fallabel said of his 5-10 outside hitter.KILLERS … Kloap passed 600 kills for her career during last night's win. Stankiewitch has over 900 for her career. Combine their numbers with the play of sophomore Mooney, who is in her first year as a starter, and the Fillies have outstanding firepower at the net.NEXT STOP ... Marian will play Country Day School of the Sacred Heart on Saturday at a site and time to be determined.