Sometime change is good. Sometimes it can cause angina.

So when the Marian volleyball brain trust decided to make some changes heading into the district playoffs, it took a little coaxing to make sure the players were confident in the process.

The early results were impressive.

A much more aggressive Marian team rolled to a 25-20, 25-17 and 25-10 sweep over a much improved Minersville team in the District 11 Class 1A semifinals on Thursday.

Marian will now face a familiar foe in Pottsville Nativity on Wednesday for the District 11 championship.

After dropping a pair of five-set thrillers to Nativity during the regular season, the third meeting between the two small-school volleyball powers will be the true test for Marian’s new lineup.

After the Fillies decided to move some players around at the net and in the backcourt, veteran head coach John “Doc” Fallabel said it took some persuasion until everyone bought into the moves.

“When you are used to doing things one way, it can be a little tough,” said Fallabel.

“We moved Jamison Wheeler to a new position, we got Rebecca Dzuranin to play with more confidence, and Alivia (Karchner) is starting to show what kind of ability she has,” Fallabel said. “Wheeler’s defense is spectacular, and she is now the vocal leader of the team and taking charge on the court.”

Minersville was playing serve-for-serve with the Fillies through the opening set, trailing 16-13 as one point before Marian started to assert itself and put a late push to pull away for the win.

Minersville coach Kenton Martin felt his team needed to find a way to scratch out a victory in one of the early sets, but the Miners weren’t able to get that accomplished.

“We faced them before early in the season, and they beat us 3-0, but they were very tight sets,” Martin said. “We’re not consistent, and when you are going up against one of the best teams, you’ve got to be more consistent.”

Wheeler’s leadership was starting to take hold as the Fillies became more and more dominant as the match went on.

“I was so proud of my team,” Wheeler said. “Tonight’s rotation was one that we weren’t used to, but I thought it worked well. I thought the changes had the entire team playing more upbeat.”

Marian turned to its top-gun Karchner in the second game, as she started to take charge at the net and the service line. Kelly Sullivan got into the flow as did Tatiana Zeleniak, enabling the Fillies to take a commanding 18-9 lead on their way to a comfortable victory.

Marian came out of the chute to open the third set and was never challenged. With Dzuranin in serve, the Fillies built a 6-0 lead. That was quickly extended to 18-5 as Wheeler ripped two aces during a nice service run that featured Dzuranin controlling the net with a block and two kills.

“It means the world to us, because we’ve been working so hard this season,” Karchner said. “We’ve really grown as a team from last year; and as a team in general. It feels good to be back in the district finals for the first time since my freshman year.”

ADDING IT UP … The Fillies had only 24 errors in the contest; while Minersville committed 34.

NUMBERS … Karchner led Marian with 14 kills, Zeleniak led in digs with 17, and Ashlyn Klitsch was tops in assists with 33. Wheeler added eight digs. Minersville setter Abby Adams had 25 assists, while Sara Motley had 15 kills.

GLAD TO BE BACK … “We were missing our two assistants all season long (because of COVID-19), but they are back and that means a lot to us.” Fallabel of the return of Rachel Krajcirik and Maria Currie, his two trusted bench Lieutenants.