MARIETTA, Ohio – The Marietta College volleyball team was defeated 3-2 (25-20, 28-26, 18-25, 18-25, 12-15) by Mount Union in the semifinals of the Ohio Athletic Conference tournament on Thursday (Nov. 9) evening in Ban Johnson Arena.
Both teams battled to a 8-all tie in the first set, but the Pioneers went on a run that was fueled by four kills from
Mia Silva (Barberton, Ohio/Barberton) to push out to a 15-10 advantage. The Purple Raiders answered with a five-point rally, including a pair of kills by Heaven Bartell, to tie the score back up at 15. After the teams traded some possessions, Marietta took advantage of some Raider attack to jump out to lead 23-19. Mount Union could not bridge the gap as Silva closed out the set with a thunderous kill. The Pioneers set one, 25-20
The Pioneers opened the second set strong as they held an early 6-3 edge with
Jillian Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) providing a trio of kills. After Marietta took an 11-8 lead, Mount Union answered big with a six-point rally to now lead 14-11. Marietta got kills from
Ella Boyer (Bay Village, Ohio/Saint Joseph Academy),
Emory Spitler (Lebanon, Ohio/Lebanon), and the Fellers sisters to roar back into a 15-14 lead. Both teams traded the lead three times over the next several possessions, but Marietta got it to set point after a Purple Raider service error. Mount Union then took the next two point to switch set point to their favor. Marietta answered with consecutive kills to once again lead 26-25.
Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) followed a Raider service error with a kill to finally claim set two, 28-26
The Raiders opened the third set with an 7-3 lead, but Marietta roared back with four straight to briefly take an 8-7 lead. Marietta got a little sloppy over the couple of possession, committing three consecutive attack errors, helping Mount Union to a 12-8 lead. Yet another Pioneer five-point rally edged them back into the lead, but Mount Union finally got control as they took 11 of the next 14 points. Marietta could not make up the difference and Mount Union stayed alive, winning set three 25-18.
Both teams battled to a 10-all tie in set four, but Marietta took three straight point to lead 13-10. Every time Marietta would gain some momentum, Mount Union would answer. The Raiders took the next five straight behind three kills from their front line. Darby Leininger delivered two straight kills and the Raiders took a four-point lead. Marietta answered with a pair of Silva kills, cutting the lead to one. That would be as close as they would get in the set as the Raider took seven of the next eight to finish out the set, and won 25-18.
In the deciding fifth set, Marietta jumped out to a 5-2 lead, aided by three Raider attack errors. A block from Silva and
Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) set the Pioneer lead at 8-5. Mount Union yet again answered with four straight to retake the lead at 9-8. Silva would tie it up with a kill and a block from the Fellers sister gave them the lead again. The two teams traded the next few points but the Raiders would tie it up at 12 with a kill from Sydney Mercer. Marietta would not regain the lead as the Raaider scored the final three points and capped off the set, 15-12.
The Pioneer offense was led by Silva with a team high 21 kills in the match, while only committing two attack errors.
Jillian Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) finished with 15 kills and
Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) had 11 kills, collected 28 digs, and assisted on six blocks. Spitler finished with 58 assists and
Keira Shannon (Roscoe, Ill./Hononegah Community) had a big defensive effort finishing with 25 digs.
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 X and Instagram.
