Jerry Hinnen / Sports editor

Too bad they’re not all this easy.

The Marengo Academy volleyball team cruised through a Columbus Day match-up with regional foe Wilcox Academy, sweeping the visiting Wildcats out of the gym 25-15, 25-15, and 25-13 in their best-of-five match.

After never really challenging the homestanding Longhorns in their 10-point loss in Game 1, Wilcox closed an early Marengo Game 2 lead to 12-11 before the Longhorns scored 12 of the game’s final 16 points to turn the game as lopsided as the first. Amber Walker got the run started with four consecutive aces to build the lead back to 17-11, and solid play by Chelsea Etheridge and Abbey Huckabee took the Longhorns to game point. Ashley Stokes slammed the ball off the Jaguar block and out for a second 25-15 game win.

In Game 3, an early kill by Walker along with multiple aces by Huckabee, Etheridge, Stokes, and Heather Mathis helped Marengo to a commanding 12-4 lead before head coach Rhonda Phillips began wholesale substitutions. It didn’t make any difference for Wilcox, however, as kills by eighth-graders Kaleigh Robison and Shelby Mathis took the lead to 22-8. An excellent dig by Taylor Hunnicutt helped Mathis finish the next point and two Wilcox service errors later, the match was over with a 25-13 Longhorn game win.

With the victory, the young Longhorns (no seniors and only three players in 10th grade or above) improve to 8-4 on the season. They will next take on Marion Academy later in the week.