MARIETTA, Ohio – After a five-set thriller the night before verses Wittenberg, the No. 11-ranked Marietta College volleyball team had another tough task ahead as they faced conference foe John Carroll University on Saturday (Oct. 19) afternoon at the Ban Johnson Arena. Although every set was closely contested, the Pioneers went on to sweep the Blue Streaks 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-20). With the win, the Pioneers remain undefeated at 17-0 overall and 5-0 in Ohio Athletic Conference play, and with the loss John Carroll falls to 14-6 overall and 3-2 in the OAC.
Marietta took an early 4-3 lead in set one, but the Blue Streaks took the next four points to grab the lead. JCU would then build out a commanding 20-10 lead over the next several possession, fueled by a trio of kills from Hailey Williams. The Pioneers did not flinch, though, and started to chip away at the deficit. They took the next four points, getting a powerful kill from
Mia Silva (Barberton, Ohio/Barberton) and an ace from
Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington). After losing the serve, the Pioneers took five of the next six points, getting a pair of kills from
Sophie Evans (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) to close the gap to 23-19.
Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) and
Jillian Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) then took over, each getting two kills as the Marietta claimed the final six points and won set one, 25-33.
The second set saw John Carroll race out to a 6-3 lead, but the Pioneers fought back with kill from
Emory Spitler (Lebanon, Ohio/Lebanon) and an ace from
Keira Shannon (Roscoe, Ill./Hononegah Community) to jump back out to a 7-6 lead. Later in the match, the Pioneers got kills from
Mia Silva (Barberton, Ohio/Barberton) and
Ella Boyer (Bay Village, Ohio/Saint Joseph Academy) on the way to a four-point rally to extend the lead to 14-9. John Carroll attempted to come back but
Jillian Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) collected four kills in five possessions to extend the lead to set point. The Blue Streaks could not overcome the differential. The Pioneers scored the final point off of another Fellers kill, and won 25-17.
JCU once again jumped out to a 9-4 advantage in the third set, but Marietta once again came back. They benefited from some errors by the Blue Streaks to cut the lead to one. Both teams then traded scores over the next several possession, but JCU upheld the one-point lead at 16-15. Marietta then took firm control as they began converting kill after kill. Marietta took 10 out of the final 14 possessions, eight off of Pioneer kills, and would close out a 25-20 set three victory
"Being down 20-10 and coming back to take the first set showed their grit and fight!," said Marietta head coach
Kristy Newman. "We always knew they had it, but to see them show it, trust and support each other to comeback and then take the match in 3 was amazing to see! I couldn't be prouder of them today!"
The Pioneers were led by
Jillian Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) with 15 kills and Silva added nine kills.
Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) added eight kills, two blocks, and 12 digs.
Spitler collected 37 assists and converted on three kills. Defensively,
Keira Shannon (Roscoe, Ill./Hononegah Community) led the team with 19 digs.
Marietta will return to the court Tuesday (Oct. 22) when they travel to take on Muskingum University, with the match scheduled for 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 X and Instagram.
