HAZLETON - If Marian needed a wake-up call for Saturday morning's PIAA Class 1A state volleyball tournament quarterfinal, Blue Ridge provided it in the opening set.

The Raiders got Marian's attention with a 26-24 victory to open the best-of-five match.The Fillies responded by flashing the form that has earned them the No. 1 Class 1A ranking in the state throughout most of the season. Marian reeled off victories in the next three sets, clearly becoming more dominant as the match wore on.That would only make sense after listening to Marian's Jasmine Mooney."I don't know what it is, but we just don't seem to play well in the morning," smiled the blue-eyed, 6-1 Mooney when speaking about her team's slow startMarian coach John Fallabel had a different take, however, crediting the talent of previously once-beaten Blue Ridge for his team's early struggles."Hey they're a good team, this is what high school volleyball is all about," Fallaebl said. "This was fantastic, lots of energy, lots of fun deep into the state playoffs, both teams diving for the ball."We were lucky to come away with the win."The Raiders were giving the Fillies all they could handle until "The Hammer" took over.That would be All-Stater Mooney.Mooney took charge late in the second set when she reeled off four kills to provide a much-needed spark. Then with the game tied at 23-23, a pair of seniors came up big for Marian. Jenna O'Donnell had a huge block and Miranda Antiga aced out the final point to even the match.That latter sequence seemed to ignite a timber for the Fillies over the next two sets as they started to wear down the District 2 representatives."We just weren't playing Marian volleyball," said the Fillies senior leader Gianna Agosti, who had another top-flight outing with a team-high 15 service points. "We didn't make the early plays … that's what is so frustrating. But we finally started to play like we were capable."There were seven ties in the third set, but Marian looked poised and when freshman Antonia Galasso took serve at 22-22 and never gave it up in leading the team to a second straight set decision.After set three, the Fillies started to expunge the morning demons in a fourth set romp. Marian broke free from a 6-6 tie, reeling off six straight points with Antonina Zeleniak in control garnering three of her 12 aces. Then Emily Meier, the club's southpaw, gashed the Raiders defense with three more aces for a 16-8 lead. And before the weary District 2 champs could react, Mooney, Galasso and Zeleniak polished off another victory, vaulting the Fillies to within one more win of a state championship date."We come in with certain expectations," said Fallabel about his team's lofty goals. "I don't know if we will make it out to states, but that's been our target since day one."They say Marian is the best team in the state. I don't know if they are right. But we'll get a chance to prove it this week. You have to do it on the court."UP NEXT ...Marian advances to the state semifinals against Berlin Brothersvalley the District 5 champion.KNOCK-KNOCK ...Marian's role players are stars in their own right. Don't discount Galasso, Spillman, Meier and Antiga as they find ways to spark the team during crunch time.COUNT THE WAYS ... Mooney now has 1,000 attacks on the season getting 46 Saturday. Agosti may be one of the smaller players on the team, but she energizes her team and continues to play uncanny. Saturday she had 32 assists.QUOTEABLES ..."The first three games it wasn't an issue. The fourth game, when we got down, then it was." said Blue Ridge coach Lori Zick about Mooney's serving and kills.