MARIETTA, Ohio – For the first time in 27 years the Marietta College volleyball team has earned the right to play an Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament match on its home floor. The Pioneers, seeded fourth, will host #5 seed Heidelberg on Tuesday (Oct. 30) at 7:00 p.m. in a quarterfinal match. [
Tournament Website]
Marietta (17-11 overall, 5-4 OAC) swept Heidelberg (18-13, 5-4) in Tiffin 3-0 earlier in the season. The Pioneers posted set scores of 25-23, 25-23 and 25-21 to upset the then No. 23-ranked Student Princes.
The Pioneers will be making their second straight trip to the OAC Tournament and 16th appearance in program history. Marietta finished second in 1985 and 1987 falling to the top-seeded Ohio Northern Polar Bears both times.
Marietta has hosted OAC Tournament matches on two occasions. In 1984, #4 Marietta defeated #5 Heidelberg 15-10 and 15-8. A year later, the #3 Pioneers downed #6 Heidelberg 16-14 and 15-12.
The Pioneers feature a balanced offensive attack with four players who have recorded over 200 kills this season. Sophomore middle blocker #
Rachel Hackenberg (Canal Winchester/Franklin Heights)# leads the team with 271 kills and a .284 attack percentage. Hackenberg is also tops on the squad with 82 blocks.
Junior outside hitter #
Paige DeVriendt (Bowling Green/Bowling Green)# has amassed 242 kills and averages 2.75 kills per set. Senior outside hitter #
Alex VanGundy (Powell/Olentangy Liberty)# has 237 kills, while freshman right-side hitter #
Keri Horton (Westland, Mich./Wayne Memorial)# has 221.
Sophomore setter #
Laura Mauer (Terre Haute, Ind./North)# leads the OAC with 1023 assists. She is third on the team with 51 blocks and 296 digs. Senior libero #
Jen Braun (Chagrin Falls/Kenston)# anchors the back line with 580 digs.
Heidelberg will counter with a pair of big middle hitters in senior Marian Bevington and junior Amber Welfle. Bevington leads the Student Princes with 375 kills and is second on the squad with 94 blocks. Welfle has 310 kills and a team-best 96 blocks.
Senior setter Rachel Ferguson directs the offense and has dished out 706 assists. Sophomore libero Tessa Benanzer is the defensive leader with 618 digs.
The other quarterfinal matches include #8 Muskingum at #1 Mount Union, #7 Capital at #2 Otterbein and #6 Baldwin Wallace at #3 Ohio Northern. The semifinals and finals are slated for Friday (Nov. 2) and Saturday (Nov. 3) at the highest remaining seed.
Admission for the quarterfinal match is $7 for adults, $5 for seniors 62 years and older and $2 for non-OAC students 18 years and under. OAC students with a valid school ID are admitted free of charge. OAC regular season passes will not be honored for tournament matches.
Fans can catch the action live at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter.
