MARIETTA, Ohio – The Ban Johnson Arena was the place to be on Saturday (Sept. 21) as two undefeated, nationally-ranked volleyball teams were set to do battle. In the end, the Marietta College volleyball team made quick work of #21 Case Western Reserve University, 3-0 (25-12, 25-9, 25-23) in front of a very spirited crowd. With the win the #18-ranked Pioneers improve to 10-0 and with the loss the Spartans fall to 12-1 overall.
"Pio Nation really showed up today," said Head Coach
Kristy Newman. "The energy in the Banjo was unmatched! We fed off of it, stayed disciplined, and played Marietta Volleyball. I am very proud of how we played!"
Marietta rushed out the gates in set one with a 5-0 streak, getting three aces from
Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington), an then extended the lead to 11-2 after getting kills from Fellers,
Sophie Evans (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta), and
Mia Silva (Barberton, Ohio/Barberton). A few possessions later, the Pioneers scored seven straight points, fueled by a pair of kills apiece from Fellers and
Ella Boyer (Bay Village, Ohio/Saint Joseph Academy), to take a commanding 19-4 lead. The Spartans tried to inch back into the game, scoring four straight, but
Jillian Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) made her presence felt with a trio of kills, the final kill taking it to set point. CWRU committed an attack error on the final play of the set and the Pioneers claimed the set one victory, 25-12.
After
Ella Boyer (Bay Village, Ohio/Saint Joseph Academy) registered a kill on the first play of the second set, the Spartans scored two straight to take their first lead of the afternoon. The advantage was short-lived as the Pioneers slowly took the lead back, pushing the score to 8-3 after a pair of kills from Evans. Later in the match, Marietta pushed the lead to 15-6 with the help of a trio of kills from Silva. Case Western Reserve simply could not get back into the set and the Pioneers extended the lead. With the score at 20-9, Marietta closed the set with the final five points, three from kills from Evans, and won the second set, 25-9.
The third set saw Marietta take an early lead, 4-1, but the Spartans stayed close throughout the set as Calli Wall delivered a kill to cut the lead to 6-4. Later, the Spartans scored three straight, capped off by a kill from Rea Marfitia, to cut the lead to 11-9. After some traded possessions, CWRU scored three straight to take their first lead since early in the second set, 17-16. Both teams traded the next several possessions, but the Spartans led late with a score of 23-21. Marietta rallied to take the final four points, getting kills from Silva, Evans, and
Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington), and the Pioneers claimed an exciting set three, 25-23.
The Marietta offense was led by
Mia Silva (Barberton, Ohio/Barberton) with 13 kills. Silva also has brought three blocks.
Jillian Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) added 12 kills. Evans and
Maggie Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) brought eight kills apiece. Evans led the team with five blocks while Fellers led with six service aces.
Emory Spitler (Lebanon, Ohio/Lebanon) led with had 38 assists. Kiera Shannon led an awesome Pioneer defensive effort with 17 digs in the match.
Marietta will hit the road this Thursday (Sept. 25) to battle Dennison University with the game 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.
