MARIETTA, Ohio – The Marietta College volleyball team advanced in the Ohio Athletic Conference tournament with a 3-1 (20-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-20) victory over the University of Mount Union, in the quarterfinals on Tuesday (Nov. 1) evening inside Ban Johnson Arena.  

Head Coach Kristy Newman said, "I was really proud of the way we battled back after set one. We followed the game plan, stayed consistent and in control. Mount Union played amazing defense but we found momentum in set 2 and ran with it."

Mount Union got off to a quick start as they held a 5-1 lead.  Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) and Emory Spitler (Lebanon, Ohio/Lebanon) provided kills and Keira Shannon (Roscoe, Ill./Hononegah Community) served an ace to get it to a 6-4 deficit.  After the Purple Raiders extended the lead to 8-4, the Pioneers went on six point rally to take their first lead of the set, 10-8.  The run was sparked by kills from Spitler and Jillian Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) and a Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) service ace.  Mount Union would take five of the next six points to climb back into the lead 13-11.  Maria Ellesin brought three more kills and Mount Union had their largest lead at 19-13.  The two teams would trade serves and, although Marietta put up a three point run, they could not complete the comeback and lost the first set, 25-20.  

Marietta had an early spark in the second set as they jumped out to a 5-2 lead.  Becca Phelps (Mansfield, Ohio/Madison Comprehensive) led a "block party" as she registered two rejections in the early run.  The Purple Raiders fought back to tie it at 8, 9, and 10 and then jumped out to a 12-10 lead from a Catherine Klopp kill.  The two teams would trade points for several possessions until Marietta gained the advantage.  Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) notched two straight kills and Marietta led 22-20.  She then delivered a laser beam kill to put it at set point.  Silva finished the set with an exclamation point and the Pioneers would even the match with a 25-22 win.  

The Pioneers and Purple Raiders battled back and forth in set three until Marietta edged forward with a Jillian Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) kill and an Ella Boyer (Bay Village, Ohio/Saint Joseph Academy) ace, to lead 10-6.  The Purple Raiders answered and closed the gap to 12-11.  Kills from Phelps, Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington), and Silva pushed the lead back to 16-12 and a five-point rally a few possessions later gave Marietta a comfortable 21-13 margin.  Mount Union fought back but could not get much closer and the Pioneers won the third set, 25-19.  

The two teams battled hard in set four, deadlocked in 9-9 tie.  Phelps gave Marietta a 12-10 lead off of a kill.  In later action, Jillian Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) fired off two consecutive kills to put the score at 16-13.  Every time the Purple Raiders tried to get some momentum; the Pioneers would answer.  With the lead at 23-20, Silva notched the final two kills of the match and Marietta would go on to win the fourth set, 25-20.  

The Pioneers were led by Jillian Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington), she had 16 kills, and five total blocks in the match.  Silva added 14 kills and Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) finished with 13 kills.  Phelps added 14 kills and a game high seven total blocks in the match.  Spitler finished with 48 assists.  Defensively,  Shannon tallied 28 digs in the match.  Jillian Feller added 22 digs in the win.

Marietta will return to the court Thursday (Nov. 3) when they travel to compete at Otterbein University in the Semifinals of the OAC tournament. 

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.