MARIETTA, Ohio – The Marietta College volleyball team improved to 4-0 overall on the season with a pair of four set wins over Hood College and Mount St. Joseph University on the final day of the BSN Sports River City Classic Saturday (August 31). The Pioneers defeated the Blazers (25-15, 19-25, 25-22, 25-14), and took game two from the Lions (25-16, 27-25, 16-25, 25-14) in the final match of the tournament.
The first set against Hood opened as a tight battle, as the game was tied at five points apiece. Marietta opened up a lead behind kills from
Alissa Ginther (Beverly, Ohio/Fort Frye),
Maris Kaiser (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy), and
Sam Ritenour (Jeffersonville, Ohio/Miami Trace), to take a 10-5 edge. The Pioneers stretched their lead to 16-7, behind two more kills from Ritenour, and won the first set 25-15.
The second set was back and forth as the set was tied or the lead changed hands 11 times before the Blazers grabbed a 13-9 advantage. Hood continued its strong second set play and won, 25-19.
The Blazers led the third set 7-4, but Marietta responded with five of the next six points to take a 9-8 lead. The attack was led by a pair of kills from Ritenour and a kill from Kaiser. The set remained close, but Hood led 20-16. Marietta responded with a 6-0 run and took a 22-20 edge. The run was led by kills from Ritenour, Ginther, and Broooke Trimble, as well as a service ace from
Braya Elsea (Circleville, Ohio/Logan Elm). The Pioneers won the set, 25-22.
Marietta won the fourth set 25-14, and won its opening match of the day.
Mount St. Joseph opened the first set quickly to take a 4-1 edge, and held a 12-9 lead later in the set. The Pioneers took a 15-12 lead with six consecutive points behind a pair of kills from Ritenour and two aces from Elsea. Marietta lead 19-16 before scoring the final six points of the set to win, 25-16.
The Lions opened the second set with a 10-6 edge, and maintained a 22-16 advantage late in the second set. The Pioneers cut into the lead with five straight points behind kills from Ginther and
Hailey Fuller (Newark, Ohio/Granville). Marietta tied the set at 25-25, the Pioneers scored the final two points of the set to win the second set, 27-25.
The Marietta offense was led by Ritenour as she tallied 37 total kills on the day. Ginther added some fire power with 21 total kills on the day.
Maddie Nader (Vermilion, Ohio/Vermilion) set up the offense with 79 assists including a game high 40 against Mount St. Joseph. The Pioneer defense was led by
April Davis (Aurora, Ohio/Aurora) as she notched 47 total digs between the two games.
Marietta will return to the court Tuesday (Sept. 3) when they host Ohio Christian 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.
