MARIETTA, Ohio – History was made in the 50th season of Marietta College volleyball as the Pioneers completed an unbelievable undefeated season. Marietta battled Ohio Wesleyan in the season finale Friday (Nov. 8) evening and won in straight sets, 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-21), capping off the record-breaking regular season. Marietta finished the regular season with a 22-0 overall record and with the defeat, Ohio Wesleyan dropped to 14-12.
Before the match began, the Pioneers honored all of the seniors on the team:
Sophie Evans (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta),
Mia Silva (Barberton, Ohio/Barberton),
Ella Boyer (Bay Village, Ohio/Saint Joseph Academy),
Alayna Ricker (Columbus Grove, Ohio/Columbus Grove),
Emory Spitler (Lebanon, Ohio/Lebanon),
Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington),
Riley Hohman (Copley, Ohio/Copley), and Emma Fehrman.
Marietta opened the first set on a quick 5-1 run, fueled by a pair of kills from Silva, and then extended the lead to six after getting a service ace from
Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington). The Battlin' Bishops took advantage of some Marietta attack errors to chip away at the lead, but
Jillian Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) delivered a pair of kills to put the score at 16-10. Later in the match, Ohio Wesleyan made things interesting as they went on a seven-point rally, cutting the lead to 22-20. Marietta withstood the rally and took three of the last four possessions to take the set. 25-21.
The two teams battled to an five-all tie to begin set two, but a pair of
Jillian Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) kills helped the Pioneers go on a five-point rally and the lead was pushed to 10-5. Later in the match, Fellers powered another pair of kills during a four-point run to extend the lead to 16-8. Ohio Wesleyan tried to chip away at the lead but could not overcome the deficit. Fellers delivered the final kill and Marietta won set two, 25-20.
The Pioneers got their first five points of set three off of Ohio Wesleyan attack errors, still both teams stayed closed as they were tied at nine. Marietta took a slight lead with a kill from
Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) and an ace from Spitler. The Bishops stayed close and even took a 17-16 lead after Natalie Dieball delivered a pair of aces. With the lead at 21-20, Marietta took the final five points to complete the sweep, winning the set, 25-21.
Jillian Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) led the offense with 11 kills. Silva, who notched her 1,000th career kill during the match, finished with seven kills.
Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) collected six kills and 12 digs. Spitler collected 28 assists and
Keira Shannon (Roscoe, Ill./Hononegah Community) led the defense with 19 digs.
Marietta's season will continue on as they earned the #1 seed in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament. The Pioneers await the winner of the first round matchup between Ohio Northern and John Carroll. Thursday's semifinal match is scheduled to begin at 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.
