UNIVERSITY HTS., Ohio – The Marietta College volleyball team earned a road win over Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) opponent John Carroll University, 3-2 (19-25, 25-19, 25-20, 14-25, 16-14) on Saturday (Oct. 26) afternoon. The win improves the Pioneers to 14-13 overall and 3-4 in the OAC and the loss drops the Blue Streaks to 17-10 overall and 1-6 in conference play.
John Carroll opened the first set quickly as they led 5-1. The Blue Streaks continued to play well and led the opening frame 10-5. After John Carroll held a 23-14 edge, Marietta rattled off three straight points behind kills from
Sam Ritenour (Jeffersonville, Ohio/Miami Trace) and
Hailey Fuller (Newark, Ohio/Granville) and a service ace from
Brooke Trimble (Lexington, Ky./Henry Clay). The Pioneers continued to battle, but dropped the first set, 25-18.
Marietta responded in the second set, when they scored the opening three points of the set, behind kills from
Alissa Ginther (Beverly, Ohio/Fort Frye) and Fuller, and a service ace from
Maddie Nader (Vermilion, Ohio/Vermilion). The Pioneers continued to play well and led 11-5 later in the set, with a pair of kills from
Maris Kaiser (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy). The Blue Streaks battled back to tie the set at 14-14. Marietta responded with a 5-0 run that put them on top 19-14. The run was started by an ace from
Braya Elsea (Circleville, Ohio/Logan Elm) and capped by a pair of kills from Ritenour. The Pioneers won the second set, 25-19.
The third set was a back and forth battle early, as the set was tied or the lead changed hands eight times, and the teams remained deadlocked at five points apiece. Marietta rattled off four consecutive points and grabbed a 9-5 advantage, behind an ace from Fuller. John Carroll answered to tie the game at 13-13. Once again, the Pioneers answered with three straight points highlighted by an Elsea ace. Marietta put the Blue Streaks away with back to back kills from Trimble to win the set, 25-20.
John Carroll opened the fourth set on quickly as they led 11-4. The Blue Streaks finished the fourth set strong as they won the fourth frame, 25-14. The fourth set offense was well-rounded as they had kills from Trimble, Ritenour,
Maddie Nader (Vermilion, Ohio/Vermilion), and Fuller.
John Carroll carried their fourth set momentum over to the fifth and decisive frame to take a 4-0 edge. The Pioneers battled back to tie the final set at 11 points apiece behind kills from Ritenour and Trimble. Marietta completed the fifth set rally to win the set 16-14, and won the match in five sets.
The Pioneers offense was led by Ritenour as she had 21 kills, and two total blocks in the match. Kaiser and Trimble each pitched in with seven kills and Kaiser had a game high in block assists with three. The defense was led by Elsea as she had 20 digs.
April Davis (Aurora, Ohio/Aurora) added to the defense with 17 digs, and the duo of Nader and
Makayla Schilling (Blacklick, Ohio/Licking Heights) pitched in with 16 digs.
Marietta will return to the court Tuesday (Oct. 29) when they battle Muskingum University, with the game scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
Fans can follow all of 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.
