ALLIANCE, Ohio – The No. 8 ranked University of Mount Union defeated Marietta College 3-1 Friday (Sept. 27) evening in Ohio Athletic Conference volleyball action. The Purple Raiders posted set scores of 25-23, 23-25, 25-17 and 25-13.
Marietta (9-9 overall, 0-1 OAC) jumped out to an early 6-3 lead in the first set. Mount Union (17-0, 2-0) battled back with a 6-1 run to take the lead, 9-7. The set remained close with neither team leading by more than three points. A Pioneer attack error on set point gave Mount Union the set, 25-23.
The Pioneers used runs of 6-1 and 7-2 in the second set to even the match at a set apiece. Mount Union took control early in both the third and fourth sets to seal the victory.
Mount Union senior outside hitter Taylor Webb led all players with 12 kills in the match. Sophomore right-side hitter
Keri Horton (Westland, Mich./Wayne Memorial) led the Pioneers with nine kills.
Senior outside hitter
Paige DeVriendt (Bowling Green/Bowling Green) and sophomore middle blocker
Chloe Janson (Lawrenceburg, Ind./East Central) each added eight kills for Marietta. Junior setter
Laura Mauer (Terre Haute, Ind./North) returned to the lineup after missing a couple matches with an injury and dished out a match-high 26 assists.
Defensively, Janson, Mauer and junior middle blocker each had three blocks. Mauer had a team-best 14 digs, while sophomore libero
Mary Ervin (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy Orange) had 13 and freshman
Julia Moskaluk (Copley, Ohio/Revere) added 11 digs.
Marietta plays a pair of non-conference matches at Mount Union on Saturday (Sept. 28) afternoon. The Pioneers play Bluffton University at 1:00 p.m. and Geneva College (Pa.) at 3:30 p.m. Fans can follow the Pioneers all season long at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter.
