Box Score 1 MARIETTA, Ohio — Ninth-ranked Marietta battled through the "chaos" Thursday night.
After dropping the first set to St. John Fisher and falling behind in the second set, the Pioneers never lost their confidence.
"We talk a lot about staying calm in the chaos," said senior setter
Emory Spitler (Lebanon, Ohio/Lebanon), who had 43 sets as Marietta defeated the Cardinals 3-1 in the first round of the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Tournament.
"So, when things are getting chaotic we try to stay calm," said Spitler, who also had six kills in the Pioneers first NCAA appearance. "We try to go back to the things that we can control and the things that we know we're good at and what we can do to get them out of system."
Marietta pulled out the second set 25-22 and then cruised in the final two sets — 25-16 and 25-15.
"I'm extremely proud of them. They came out a little slow. It took a second to get the fire going, but they found it," said Marietta coach
Kristy Newman. "We went back to the service line and went after it."
The Pioneers recorded 11 service aces, including four from Spitler as Marietta improved to 24-1. Spitler said her job is made much easier because of the abundance of talented hitters on Marietta's roster.
"Each hitter is so good so we're not just counting on one," she said. "I can trust every single hitter no matter the situation. I trust them to put the ball away."
It's easy to have confidence
Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington), who returned for a fifth season, and delivered 11 kills Thursday in loud home crowd that topped out at 428.
"Emory just makes our jobs so much easier," Fellers said. "This group is really special and we're a veteran squad. I think just those years of experience has really helped us get to this point. We focus on playing with confidence, and knowing that we have a crowd behind us to support us just helps us play with that much more confidence."
Newman praised the raucous Marietta faithful.
"I think being at home is huge. Our crowd is phenomenal," Newman said. "These girls earned the win, but (our fans) definitely helped tonight. The support that we've seen all season is huge. I also think the girls did an awesome job in practice the last few days."
Senior
Mia Silva (Barberton, Ohio/Barberton) led Marietta with 14 kills, while senior
Jillian Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) had 11 kills. Junior
Sophie Evans (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) added eight kills in the win.
"We have a lot of seniors and juniors playing and we really work together and talk a lot about loving each other and I think we've really embraced that this year," Spitler said.
St. John Fisher's Lydia Fraser had a game-high 16 kills, while junior Kiera Hartpence had four aces and three assists. Junior Reilly Morrow had 37 assists and sophomore Kaylene Noble added 12 kills as the Cardinals finished the season with a 21-9 record.
"It was a tough match for us. It was the highest ranked team we've played all season," said St. John Fisher coach Kelly Greapentrog. "I thought we were excellent in set one and very good in set two and then Marietta stepped it up and it was a struggle for us to maintain that level of pressure on them. But overall I'm proud of our team and how we competed."
Marietta is back in action at 7 p.m. Friday against Illinois Wesleyan (23-9) on Fenton Court. The Titans defeated Franklin & Marshall 3-0 (28-26, 25-13 and 25-23) on Thursday.
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.
