PITTSBURGH, Pa. — The 2009 Marietta College volleyball season got underway on a positive note Tuesday (Sept. 5) night as the young Pioneers traveled to Carnegie Mellon University for their season opener and came away with a 3-1 (15-25, 25-16, 25-17, 25-20) victory over the Tartans. [Box Score]

Marietta, whose lineup is dominated by young talent, overcame some freshmen jitters to take three of four from Carnegie Mellon, one of the top teams in the University Athletic Association.

"This is one of the best opening day performances I have seen in a long time," second-year Head Coach Ray Costa said after the match. "We hit well, blocked well, passed well and were scrappy on defense tonight."

Freshman setter Ally Jenkins (Twinsburg, Walsh Jesuit) had the offense running smoothly all night as the team hit over .300 as a team. Jenkins collected 45 assists in the win.

Jenkin's primary weapons were freshman outside hitter Amanda Sawicki (Mentor, Lake Catholic), who led the way with 16 kills and sophomore outside hitter Alex Weissling (Dublin, Dublin Scioto), who contributed 14 kills. Sophomore right side hitter Meredith Storey (Olmsted Falls, Olmsted Falls) added 11 kills in the victory.

Weissling, senior libero Becca Holzworth (North Olmsted, North Olmsted) and freshman outside hitter Jen Braun (Chagrin Falls, Kenston) all aided the offensive attack with one service ace.

Weissling also paced the defense with 14 digs, while Jenkins had 10 and Holzworth finished with nine. Freshman middle blocker Sarah Campbell (Twinsburg, Twinsburg) came through with seven total blocks, while Sawicki had two more.

Marietta will look to keep the early momentum growing when it returns to Pittsburgh this weekend for the La Roche College Tournament. The Pioneers will begin action on Friday (Sept. 4) with matches against Bethany (W.Va.) at 5 p.m. and the Penn State-Beaver at 6:30 p.m. On Saturday (Sept. 5), Marietta will go up against Franciscan at 12 p.m. before playing a fourth match against a team yet to be determined later in the day.