UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio – The Marietta College volleyball team lost to John Carroll 3-1 (25-23, 20-25, 19-25, 18-25) on Saturday (Oct. 7) afternoon. With the loss the Pioneers are now 7-8 overall and 2-1 in the Ohio Athletic Conference and with the victory the Blue Streaks are now 13-6 overall and 2-1 in OAC play.
The Blue Streaks rushed out to an 8-3 lead in the first set with the help of four attack errors by the Pioneers. Marietta fought back and took the lead as they rattled off seven straight points, fueled by four kills from
Jillian Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) and a pair of kills from
Mia Silva (Barberton, Ohio/Barberton). JCU's Natalie Glowe delivered two kills to help tie the score at 13-all. The Blue Streaks would then take five of the next six point to retake the lead at 18-16. Fellers continued to have a great first set and brought three more kills and the Pioneers fought back to a 22-21 advantage. The teams traded points but the Pioneers collected the victory when
Emory Spitler (Lebanon, Ohio/Lebanon) faked the set and delivered the final point in a 25-23 first set win for the Pioneers.
The Blues Streaks came out quick in the second set, rushing out to a 7-3 lead. A pair of kills from Silva cut into the lead, but JCU still led 13-12. The Blue Streaks took six of the next seven points to take a commanding 19-13 advantage. Marietta fought back as they took five of the next six points, cutting the lead to two. The Blue Streaks closed the set with kills from Kendra Dziubinski, Mary Kate Sheehan, and Hailey Williams and a Pioneer attack error, and took the second frame, 25-20.
Marietta got a small advantage to begin the third set when
Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) and Spitler combined on a block to put the score at 6-4. JCU scored four straight, then Marietta answered with three straight of their own, and the Blue Streaks answered that run with yet another four-point run. The Pioneers inched closer as Jillian Fellers delivered two more kills and only trailed 14-13. That was as close as Marietta could get as the Blue Streaks seemingly got a clutch point every time they needed it. After Silva delivered a kill to make the score 22-19, JCU scored the final three points and won 25-19.
John Carroll stormed out in set four with a 16-6 lead. Marietta tried to claw back and got a kill and two aces from Maggie Fellers, cutting the lead to 16-11. John Carroll took the next three points to extend the lead to nine, but the Pioneers scored four straight with the help of a pair of Jillian Fellers kills. The lead was too big to overcome and the Blue Streaks closed out the final set, winning 25-18.
The Pioneer offense was led by Jillian Feller with 20 kills. Maggie Fellers had 15 kills and 12 digs. Silva played well and registered 10 kills. Spitler collected 43 assists and
Keira Shannon (Roscoe, Ill./Hononegah Community) led the defensive effort with 18 digs in the match.
Marietta will return to the court Tuesday (Oct. 10) when they travel to battle Mount Union, 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.
