WILMINGTON, Ohio – The Marietta College volleyball team defeated Wilmington College on the road, 3-1 (25-20, 21-25, 25-21, 25-22) on Friday (Oct. 14) evening. With the win the Pioneers improve to 16-5 overall and 4-1 in Ohio Athletic Conference play, and with the loss the Quakers fall to 8-15 overall and 1-4 in OAC action.  

After a back and forth beginning to the first set, Marietta won five of six points and took the lead, 10-7.  Mia Silva (Barberton, Ohio/Barberton) has two kills and a block assist during that run.  The lead was short-lived as the Quakers came back to tie the score at 11, highlighted by two Sydney Geibel kills.  Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) began to get warmed up and scattered four kills as the Pioneers raced back out to a 18-15 lead.    The two teams traded points over many possessions, but the Quakers could not breach the gap.  The Pioneers closed out strong and took the first set, 25-21.

Wilmington got off to a quick start in set two and led, 6-2.  The early second set offense came from kills by Guibel.  The Pioneers fought back scoring eight of the next nine, including three kills from Jillian Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington), to put the score at 14-10. The Quakers answered again, winning six of seven points and giving the lead back to Wilmington, 16-15.  After Sophia Thomas unleashed a wicked kill to make the score 21-18, Wilmington never trailed in the remainder of the set. Wilmington scored the final four points, two off of Thomas kills and Quakers won the second set, 25-21.  

The third set was close early, but the Pioneers ran off eight straight points off of great serving by Braya Elsea (Circleville, Ohio/Logan Elm) and timely kills from the Marietta front line. Wilmington would keep it close, getting back to within two points of the lead, 21-19, but that would be as close they would get in that set.  Emory Spitler (Lebanon, Ohio/Lebanon) and Jillian Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) delivered the kills that secured the victory and Pioneers won 25-21.  

In the fourth set, Marietta and Wilmington duked it out for many points and no team gained much of an advantage.  After the two teams tied at 19, the Pioneers busted off a four point rally, fueled by an Emory Spitler (Lebanon, Ohio/Lebanon) "skip set" kill.  Marietta took the final two points and registered a 25-22 victory.

The Marietta offense was led by Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) with 21 kills and Jillian Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) with 15 kills.  Boyer pitched in with eight kills. Spitler dished out 52 assists.  Keira Shannon (Roscoe, Ill./Hononegah Community) led the defensive effort with a game high 18 digs.  The Fellers sisters added 10 digs apiece..         

Marietta will return to the court Wednesday (Oct. 19) when they travel to take on Capital, with the game scheduled to begin at 7 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.