TIFFIN, Ohio – The 22nd-ranked Marietta College volleyball team battled Heidelberg University on the road Saturday (Oct. 10) afternoon and had to come from behind to claim the OAC victory, 3-2 (21-25, 25-21, 22-25, 25-16, 15-13).  With the win, Marietta improves to 12-4 overall and 3-0 in the Ohio Athletic Conference.  With the loss, Heidelberg drops to 13-11 overall and 2-1 in the OAC.
 
Marietta started slow as they fell behind early 5-1, but then came back to cut into the lead with a kill from Jillian Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) and a pair of kills from Emily Piehler (Medina, Ohio/Medina) to trail by one point.  The Pioneers got a pair of big kills from Karly Launder (Pleasant City, Ohio/Meadowbrook) to keep the action close and then took their first lead with a service ace from Emory Spitler (Lebanon, Ohio/Lebanon), leading 12-11.  After some traded possessions, the Student Princes pushed back into the lead and extended it to four points with kills from Rylee Ritzhaupt and Kaitlyn Uffman.  The Pioneers tried to stay close but could never overcome the difference,  Despite two kills and a block from AnnaBelle Hacker (Centerville, Ohio/Alter), Heidelberg finished off set one with a kill from Sophia Simon and claimed a 25-21 victory.
 
Marietta again fell behind 4-1 in set two, but fought back to tie at 6-all and 7-all with the help of another pair of kills from Hacker.  This time, Marietta inched out to a lead and did not relinquish the advantage.  Marietta pushed the lead to four, fueled by a pair of kills from Launder.  Heidelberg came back and cut the lead to one, but Piehler answered with a kill to stop the rally.  Later in the match, Marietta took advantage of some Heidelberg attack errors to get the lead to 23-19 and then got two powerful kills from Launder to push the Pioneers over the finish line, claiming the 25-21 set two victory.

The third set saw both teams trade possession to start, but after Heidelberg took the next point to take a 2-1 lead, they would never lose the lead for the remainder of the set.  Marietta would go on to commit nine attack errors during the set, not giving them the chance to get back into the contest.  Down 20-12, the Pioneers fought back with kills from Hacker, Launder, Spitler, and Karley Allwood (Wadsworth, Ohio/Wadsworth), to cut the lead to five, causing Heidelberg to take a timeout.  After a kill from Hacker and a service ace from Keira Shannon (Roscoe, Ill./Hononegah Community), the Pioneers cut the lead to 23-21, but the Students Prince survived and outlasted Marietta to win set three, 25-23.
 
The fourth set saw both teams battle back in forth out to an 11-11 tie, but Marietta began to build a lead with the help of kills on four of the next five possessions.  Later in the match, Marietta took three straight points, two from aces by Piehler, to push out to their biggest lead of the set, 22-13.  Heidelberg took a couple of points back, but not nearly enough.  Launder closed out the set with a pair of kills and the Pioneers would cruise to 25-16 set four victory, causing a winner-take-all set five.
 
Heidelberg tried to take quick control of set five as they rushed out to a 6-3 lead, but the Pioneers benefited from some Student Prince attack errors which kept the deficit close.  When the Pioneers needed some firepower, all throughout the matchup, Hacker was ready to answer the call and she came up valuable in the final moments.  She tied up the set at 10 with a huge kill, causing Heidelberg to call a timeout.  When play resumed, she rattled off two more kills to push the lead to 13-10 and Heidelberg had to take their final timeout.  Although Marietta gave up the next three points to allow Heidelberg to tie it back up, they used a timeout to regroup and would take the final two points to claim the set and the match, 15-13.
 
Hacker led the offense with 20 kills and also led the team with six blocks.  Launder added 14 kills and Fellers provided 11 kills.  Spitler finished with 48 assists and chipped in defensively with 30 digs.  Shannon was a defensive force, finishing with 36 digs.  

The Pioneers will return home to battle Capital on Wednesday (Oct. 15) evening for another OAC matchup with a start time 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.