MARIETTA, Ohio – Heidelberg University defeated Marietta College by the score of 3-1 Wednesday (Oct. 31) in the quarterfinals of the Ohio Athletic Conference Volleyball Tournament. After dropping the first set to the Pioneers 21-25, the Student Princes won three straight sets 25-21, 25-21 and 25-19. [
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Marietta finishes the season with an overall record of 17-12. Heidelberg improves to 19-13 on the season and advances to the semifinals on Friday. The Student Princes, seeded 5th, will play top-seeded Mount Union in Alliance.
The No. 4-seed, Marietta came from behind to win the first set. Heidelberg jumped out to an early 4-1 lead. The Pioneers fought back to take an 11-9 advantage. The set remained close with neither team leading by more than three points.
A kill from sophomore #
Rachel Hackenberg (Canal Winchester/Franklin Heights)# put the Pioneers ahead 19-16 and forced Heidelberg to call a timeout. The Student Princes got within a point at 19-18 and again at 20-19, but couldn't even the set. Back to back errors from Heidleberg gave Marietta the final two points of the set and a 25-21 win.
Heidelberg never trailed in the second set. The Student Princes led by as many as six points, 15-9. Marietta climbed back into the set closing to within a point, 22-21, on a kill from freshman #
Chloe Janson (Lawrenceburg, Ind./East Central)#. Heidelberg responded with the next three points to take the set 25-21.
It appeared that the Pioneers were gaining control of the match in the third set. Marietta led most of the set, including a 17-13 advantage after scoring four straight points.
Trailing 19-16, Heidelberg tallied six consecutive points to take a 22-19 lead. Kills from Amber Welfle and Jacki Street gave the set victory to the Student Princes, 25-21.
Heidelberg dominated the early part of the fourth set racing out to a 6-1 lead. The Student Princes extended the lead to as many as 10 points at 13-3 and again at 20-10.
Hosting an OAC playoff game for the first time in 27 years, the Pioneers refused to go away quietly. Riding the serve of sophomore #
Brittney Merritt (Akron/Copley)#, Marietta scored the next seven points to trim the deficit to three, 20-17. Heidelberg recorded five of the next seven points to secure the 25-19 win and take the match.
Welfle and Marian Bevingtom led the Heidelberg attack with 16 and 15 kills, respectively. Street added 13 kills and Jamie Kluding had 10.
Junior #
Paige DeVriendt (Bowling Green/Bowling Green)# had 11 kills to lead Marietta. Janson added 10 kills, while Hackenberg, senior #
Alex VanGundy (Powell/Olentangy Liberty)# and freshman #
Keri Horton (Westland, Mich./Wayne Memorial)# each had nine.
Sophomore setter #
Laura Mauer (Terre Haute, Ind./North)# had a match-high 35 assists and led the Pioneers with 25 digs. Senior libero #
Jen Braun (Chagrin Falls/Kenston)# chipped in with 21 digs. Braun ends her career as the Pioneers' all-time digs leader with 1,956 in her career.
