MARIETTA, Ohio — No. 11 ranked Marietta College dropped the first two sets in their match with Wittenberg University Friday (Oct.18) evening, but found a way to survive. The Pioneers took the final three sets to win the match, 3-2, (22-25, 23-25, 25-14, 25-12, 15-10). With the win, the Pioneers stay unbeaten at 16-0 overall. The Tigers fall to 11-7 on the season.
Both teams battled back and forth throughout the first set, trading leads on the way to a 17-all tie. Marietta tried to get some separation and scored four straight, fueled by kills from
Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) and
Mia Silva (Barberton, Ohio/Barberton), taking a 21-17 advantage. After a service error from
Keira Shannon (Roscoe, Ill./Hononegah Community) gave the serve back to the Tigers, Wittenberg turned the tables and scored six straight, two off of kills from Piper Ricketts and two off of aces from Kait Colahan, to put it at set point, 24-21. Marietta could not overcome the deficit and the Tigers went on to win set one, 25-22.
Marietta took early control of set two, getting three kills from
Jillian Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) and rushing out to a 12-7 lead. Wittenberg chipped away at the lead and, after a four point rally later in the set, was able to tie the score at 17. The Tigers took advantage of some costly errors by the Pioneers to take a 20-18 lead, but
Jillian Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) provided two consecutive kills to tie it back at 20. After some traded possessions, the Tigers took two straight points to once again put the score at set point. Ricketts brought the final point and Wittenberg took set two 25-23.
With the Pioneers facing elimination, Wittenberg started hot with three straight points to take an early lead. Marietta answered with three aces from
Keira Shannon (Roscoe, Ill./Hononegah Community) on the the way to five-point rally. Wittenberg weathered the early storm and, after getting a trio of kills from Sam Fincham, regained the lead 11-9. The Pioneers then flipped the switch and got the offense going scoring on a massive nine-point run, fueled by five powerful kills from
Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington). The Tigers looked shell-shocked as Marietta then took seven of the final nine points, the last coming from a
Sophie Evans (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) kill. The Pioneers took set three, 25-14, and survived to play another set.
The Pioneers took an early 9-7 lead in set four, but started to really take control of the set with some lone rallies. Marietta scored five straight, two from kills from
Mia Silva (Barberton, Ohio/Barberton), to lead 14-7. Marietta later went on a four-point run, getting three kills from Evans, to lead 18-9. Wittenberg did not do themselves any favors as they began to collect several attack errors. With the Pioneer lead at 23-12,
Emory Spitler (Lebanon, Ohio/Lebanon) scored on a skip-set attack and
Jillian Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) converted an ace to give the Pioneers a 25-12 set four victory and forcing a final set.
The Pioneers jumped out to a 4-1 lead but the Tigers took five straight to regain the lead at 6-4. The Tigers then committed three more costly errors, pushing Marietta back in the lead 8-6. Marietta would not relinquish the lead as they would take five of the final seven possession.
Ella Boyer (Bay Village, Ohio/Saint Joseph Academy) provided a pair of kills and Silva would claim the match winner as Marietta completed the comeback, taking set five, 15-10.
Silva led the well-rounded Pioneer attack with 14 kills.
Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) added 13 kills, 16 digs, three blocks, and two service aces.
Jillian Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) contributed 11 kills, 13 digs, and three aces. Evans led with four blocks.
Spitler doled out 49 assists to go along with two kills, three blocks, and an ace. Keira
Shannon led
with
26 digs and four aces.
Marietta returns to the court on Saturday (Oct.19) afternoon as they will battle OAC foe John Carroll University, with the match scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. start.
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 X and Instagram.
