MARIETTA, Ohio — Marietta College won a five-game thriller over visiting Denison University Wednesday (Sept. 7) evening. The Pioneers posted scores of 25-18, 27-25, 19-25, 25-27 and 15-12 improving to 6-1 on the season. The Big Red falls to 2-2 overall.
Marietta struggled to put Denison away all evening. The Pioneers had opportunities to win the match in both the third and fourth games only to see the Big Red force the fifth and deciding game.
Denison grabbed and early 4-1 lead in the fifth and appeared to be on its way to the win when a Marietta miscue gave them a 9-6 lead. The Pioneers responded with five straight points to go in front, 11-9. Senior
Mallory Vodopich (Canton, Ohio/Massillon Perry) had three of her team-best 14 kills during the five-point run.
The Big Red closed the gap to two points, 14-12, but
Erica Denallo (Parma, Ohio/Independence) put the match away for Marietta with a kill on match point.
In addition to Vodopich's 14 kills, Denallo had 13 kills and
Amanda Arrowood (Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Groveport Madison) finished with 12. Freshmen
Cassie Staten (Athens, Ohio/Athens) and
Delaney Dawson (Granville, Ohio/Granville) split the setting duties and notched 27 and 24 assists, respectively.
On defense, Arrowood recorded four blocks, while
Grace Haas (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) rejected three Denison attacks. Denallo led the Pioneers with 21 digs. Vodopich finished with 20 digs, Dawson had 14 and
Emily Peters (Elyria, Ohio/Keystone) tallied 13 digs.
Marietta plays a tri-match at Hiram College on Friday (Sept. 9). The Pioneers play Hilbert College at 6 p.m. and Hiram at 8 p.m. Fans can follow all the Pioneer teams all year long at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter and Instagram.
