NEW CONCORD, Ohio – The Marietta College volleyball team dropped a pair of matches to Muskingum University on Tuesday (April 6) evening. The Pioneers fell 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 29-27) in game one, and dropped game two, 3-1 (25-18, 25-19, 16-25, 25-14).
The first set was close early, and Marietta held a 3-2 edge with a kill by
Becca Phelps (Mansfield, Ohio/Madison Comprehensive) and a service ace from
April Davis (Aurora, Ohio/Aurora). Muskingum answered with five straight points to lead 7-3. The Pioneers battled back to trim the lead to 8-7, behind a kill from
Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington). The Fighting Muskies took a 13-8 edge, as they scored five of the next six points. Muskingum took the first set, 25-18.
The Fighting Muskies held an early 7-3 advantage in the second set. The Pioneers responded to tie the set at 10-10, behind a kill from
Sam Ritenour (Jeffersonville, Ohio/Miami Trace) and
Hailey Fuller (Newark, Ohio/Granville). The set remained deadlocked at 13 points apiece, but Muskingum scored eight of the next 10 points to lead, 21-15. The Fighting Muskies won set two, 25-20.
Midway through the third set Muskingum held a five point ,13-8, edge. Later in the set, Marietta scored six of seven points to tie the frame at 18 points apiece. The run saw a pair of kills from Fellers and a kill from Ritenour. The set remained close and back to back kills from Phelps and Fellers, put the Pioneers on top, 24-23. Later in the set, Marietta led 27-26 behind kills from
Braya Elsea (Circleville, Ohio/Logan Elm) and
Maris Kaiser (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy). The Fighting Muskies scored the final three points, and won the set 29-27.
In game one the Pioneers were led by the trio of Fellers, Phelps, and Ritenour as they each tallied 10 kills in the match. Fellers had a game high six total blocks. Defensively Davis led the way, she had a game high 27 digs.
Muskingum opened the second game of the night quickly, as they held an 11-3 edge. Marietta battled back into the set when they scored six of the next nine to trim the score to 14-9. The run saw kills from Fellers, Ritenour, and Kaiser. The Pioneers continued to battle, but dropped the first set 25-18.
The Fighting Muskies grabbed an early 4-0 lead in set two. Marietta responded with seven unanswered points to lead 7-4. The run saw a pair of kills from Fellers, a kill from Fuller, and a service ace from Davis. The Pioneers held an 8-6 advantage before, Muskingum rattled off eight straight points to force a Marietta timeout. After the Fighting Muskies led 18-9, Marietta scored six of the next seven points to cut the Muskingum edge to 19-15. The run was highlighted by an ace from Fellers, and a kill from Ritenour. The Fighting Muskies took the second set, 25-19.
The Pioneers jumped out to an early 8-1 edge in the third set. The run was started by an ace from Elsea, saw kills from Kaiser and Fellers, and was capped by a kill from Fuller. Marietta continued its strong play and led 16-4, behind back to back kills from Phelps. The Pioneers maintained control throughout the set, and won 25-16.
The fourth set was tight early, as the frame remained tied at five points apiece. The set stayed close, but Marietta trailed 12-10. The Pioneers offense was sparked by a pair of kills from Phelps. Muskingum scored five of the next six points to lead 17-11. The Fight Muskies closed out the set, and won 25-14.
Phelps led the game two offense, she had 12 kills in the match. Fellers, and Ritenour each added 11 kills in the match. Th defense was led by Davis, she had 24 digs.
Abbi Thompson (Commercial Point, Ohio/Teays Valley),
Maddie Nader (Vermilion, Ohio/Vermilion), and Elsea all had double digit digs, with 12, 11, and 10 digs respectively.
Marietta will return to the court Friday (April 9) when they travel to take on Baldwin Wallace University, with game one scheduled to begin at 6 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.
