CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Marietta College volleyball team dropped a match to Case Western Reserve University, 3-1, (26-24, 22-25, 17-25, 23-25) Wednesday (Sept. 27) evening.  With the defeat the Pioneers drop to 5-7 and the Spartans improve to 11-4.

The first set saw both teams battle back and forth, deadlocked at 9-9.  The Spartans began to distance themselves with a six-point run, fueled in part by three Pioneer attack errors.  Marietta got kills from Ella Boyer (Bay Village, Ohio/Saint Joseph Academy) and Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) to cut the lead to 13-10.  Later in the set, the Pioneers were finally able to gain some momentum running off five consecutive points, getting key kills from Mia Silva (Barberton, Ohio/Barberton) and Jillian Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) to cut the lead to 19-18.  Silva brought two more kills to cut the lead to 23-22, but CWRU scored the next point off of a kill from Rea Marfatia to give them set point.  Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) took over as she was involved in the next four points, two by kill and two by service ace, to close out the first set for the Pioneers, 26-24.
 
The second set was close early, as it was tied numerous times, and remained deadlocked at 7-all.  Case Western Reserve went on a run to extend the score differential and eventually put the lead at 18-12.  The Pioneers got close again with a pair of kills from Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington), cutting the lead to 18-16.  Jillian Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) cut the lead to one, 19-18, with a thunderous kill, but the Spartans answered with a crucial run of their own.  Getting two big kills from Kalli Wall, CWRU once again got to set point, leading 24-19.  Marietta again chipped away at the lead with three straight points, causing the Spartans to call time out.  Marietta could not complete the rally, though, and the Spartans would close out the second set, winning 25-22.  

CWRU rushed out to a 4-1 lead in the third set, but Marietta came back to tie at four and even took the lead briefly with a Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) kill.  The Spartans then scored seven straight points, five points off of kills, to push the lead to 11-7.  Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) delivered a pair kills to attempt to keep it close, but CWRU scored on five straight plays to take a commanding 20-12 lead.  Marietta could not bridge the gap and the Spartans won the set, 25-17.  
 
The Spartans got off to a quick start again as they led the fourth set, 6-2, but the Pioneers clawed back with the help of some sloppy play from Case Western Reserve.  Silva brought a kill to put the score at 8-7.  Marietta then scored five straight, fueled by kills from Silva and Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) to help Marietta jump out to a 12-10 lead.  CWRU turned the tables as Chloe Maciejewski delivered a pair of kills and retook the lead, 15-13.  A kill from Jillian Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) cut the lead back to one, but the Pioneers committed some key attack errors to allow the Spartans to extend the lead to 19-15.  Marietta would go on to take seven of the next nine points to take a late 22-21 lead, but could not keep it.  After the two teams traded points, the Spartans claimed the final two points offf of a Marietta attack area and a kill from Jennifer Ngo.  CWRU took the final set, 25-23.

The offense was led by Jillian Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) with 16 kills and Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) with 14 kills.  Maggie added six blocks to tie for the team lead with Annabelle Hacker (Centerville, Ohio/Alter).  Emory Spitler (Lebanon, Ohio/Lebanon) led with 34 assists.  Riley Hohman (Copley, Ohio/Copley) tied with Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) to lead the defense with 11 digs apiece in the match.  

The Pioneers will return home this Saturday (Sept. 30) when they open their conference schedule to battle Baldwin Wallace University.  The match is scheduled to begin at 1 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.