Source: C & G Newspapers

Author: Zachary Manning

FARMINGTON HILLS — With the amount of talent the Farmington Hills Mercy volleyball team has, it can be easy to look ahead and focus on other things.

But that’s exactly what the Marlins are trying to avoid, as they’ve tried to stay focused on one game at a time. That philosophy had the Marlins sitting at 33-1 overall at press time, with their only loss coming back on Sept. 14 to Lowell High.

“We kind of have that business mentality of just taking it game by game,” senior Jess Mruzik said. “We don’t really know what the next game is going to hold or how the other team’s going to play or how we’re going to play, so we just have to take it point by point and focus on our side, and we’ll be fine.”

With a near-perfect record, the Marlins were ranked first in Division 1 in the Oct. 7 Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association poll. They have been the top team in every poll thus far.

With that, a target is put on their backs, and the Marlins are tasked with living up to the hype of being the top team in the state.

“It’s obviously a lot of pressure, but I think we think more of it as pressure’s a privilege. There’s a reason why everyone wants to beat us, and it’s great to know that,” junior Julia Bishop said.

“I think they’ve handled it well. I don’t think we think about it. It’s just who we are. Whatever we do, the plays in the game, we expect it to be done,” Marlins coach Loretta Vogel said.

The Marlins may be taking a game-by-game approach, but they know a state championship is not out of reach.

Mercy has been knocked out of the state tournament in the semifinals each of the last two seasons, and it motivates the team to get back.

“We feel like we have some unfinished business,” Mruzik said. “I think we’re all on the same page this year, which is going to be a good mentality going throughout the season and into the playoffs.”

Even though they haven’t talked much about the state playoffs or making another run, a few players have a good idea of what the moment would be like after the final point is won.

“I’ve envisioned it so many times. Just imagining the point where everyone celebrates and everyone falling in the middle after that,” Bishop said.