RICHMOND, Ind. – The Marietta College volleyball team wrapped up its competition at the Quaker Classic with a pair of losses to host Earlham College 3-1 (11-25, 21-25, 25-22, 20-25) and Indiana University Southeast 3-2 (26-24, 18-25, 22-25, 25-21, 6-15). With the losses the Pioneers record is now 9-4 overall on the season.
Earlham opened the first game strong and led 5-0 early. Marietta battled, but the Quakers were able to maintain their advantage and won the opening set, 25-11.
Once again Earlham grabbed a 5-1 lead early in the second set, with the Marietta point coming from a
Hailey Fuller (Newark, Ohio/Granville) kill. In the middle of the second set the Pioneers rattled off four straight points, which cut the Quakers lead to 13-12. The four point run was sparked by
Alissa Ginther (Beverly, Ohio/Fort Frye) as she notched three kills. Earlham battled back and won the set, 25-21.
Marietta opened the third set on a roll as they grabbed a 6-0 edge. The early offense was led by a pair of kills from
Sam Ritenour (Jeffersonville, Ohio/Miami Trace) and a kill from
Brooke Trimble (Lexington, Ky./Henry Clay). The Quakers responded to cut the Pioneers lead to 10-9. Marietta scored six of the next seven points to take control of the set, with
Braya Elsea (Circleville, Ohio/Logan Elm) and
Maddie Nader (Vermilion, Ohio/Vermilion) each tallying a service ace. The Pioneers won the third set, 25-22.
The fourth set opened with Marietta on top 7-2. The offense was well rounded as Trimble, Ritenour, Fuller, and
Maris Kaiser (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy) all had kills. Earlham answered to tie the game at 8-8. The Quakers continued their strong play and won the fourth set, 25-20.
The first set of the second match was a close battle as the Pioneers led 10-7. Later in the set Marietta was able to rattle off four straight points and take a 22-20 with an ace from Nader, and a kill from Ritenour. The Pioneers won the first set 26-24.
The Grenadiers opened the second set and took a 10-4 edge. Marietta answered and tied the game at 12-12 with back to back kills from Ritenour. The set remained tied at 17 points apiece, but Indiana Southeast scored the final seven points and won, 25-18.
The Pioneers opened the third set with a 6-2 lead, behind a pair of kills from Fuller. After the Grenadiers cut the lead to one, Marietta rattled off five straight points to take a 14-8 advantage. Indiana Southeast battled back to take the lead and won the set, 25-22.
The Pioneers scored the first five points of the fourth set, behind a pair of kills from Trimble. Marietta maintained its edge midway through the set and led 16-12. Later in the set, the Pioneers scored four straight points to go up 21-16 behind kills from Kaiser and Ginther. Marietta won the fourth set, 25-21.
The Grenadiers took control of the fifth and final set early and led, 13-4. Indiana Southeast won the fifth set, 15-6.
The Pioneers offense was led by Ginther as she had 23 kills between the two matches. Ritenour added to the offense with 21 kills on the day.
April Davis (Aurora, Ohio/Aurora) led the defense with 27 total digs, including a game high 17 against Earlham.
Makayla Schilling (Blacklick, Ohio/Licking Heights) added 24 digs between the two matches.
Marietta will be back in action Thursday (Sept. 19) when they travel to play Berea College, with the game scheduled to begin at 7:30 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.
