MARIETTA, Ohio – The Marietta College volleyball team welcomed in Carnegie Mellon University for a non-conference matchup on Homecoming weekend on Saturday (Oct. 18).  Despite taking the opening set, and dominating the fourth set, the Pioneers dropped the matchup to the Tartans 3-2 (25-17, 21-25, 17-25, 25-10, 7-15). With the loss, the Pioneers fell to 13-5 overall. The Tartans improved to 19-6. 
 
In the first set, Marietta took a quick 2-0 lead, and although they stayed in control the entire set, CMU was able to keep the margin close.  Back to back kills by Emily Piehler (Medina, Ohio/Medina) and Karly Launder (Pleasant City, Ohio/Meadowbrook) extended the lead to 11-6.  Later in the matchup, Keira Shannon (Roscoe, Ill./Hononegah Community) and Kamryn Haynes (Williamstown, W.Va./Williamstown) provided services aces to push the lead to six, causing the Tartans to take a timeout.  Following the break, Jillian Fellers (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) fired off a pair of kills to extend the lead to 20-12.  CMU attempted to inch back, but Karley Allwood's (Wadsworth, Ohio/Wadsworth) kill put it at set point and the Pioneers would finish with a 25-17 set one victory.
 
Marietta rushed out to a 4-0 lead in set two with the help of a pair of kills from Piehler, but this time the Tartans were able to stop the rally and start one of their own.  They took five straight, two from kills from Elizabeth Schlemmer, to take their first lead of the evening.  After CMU extended the lead to 14-10, Fellers and Allwood got the Pioneers back to within two with consecutive kills.  Marietta took advantage of another ace from Haynes and a Tartan attack error to knot the score back up at 16-all, but that would be as close as they would get for the remainder of the set.  CMU got five kills from their front line in the final possessions and claimed set two, 25-21. 
 
Both team battled back and forth in set three, tying it up on five different occasions on the way to an 11-all tie.  The Tartans took five of the next six possession, including three straight aces from Kate Giang, to push the lead to 17-12.  Despite some late kills from Launder and AnnaBelle Hacker (Centerville, Ohio/Alter), the advantage was too much to overcome and CMU cruised to a 25-17 victory in set three.
 
Facing elimination, the Pioneers fired back and dominated set four.  With the score tied at 5-5, Marietta scored ten straight as Launder collected five kills, Hacker got two kills, and Fellers powered three aces to put the score at 15-5.  CMU could not muster much else and the Pioneers closed out the set with a service ace from Keira Shannon (Roscoe, Ill./Hononegah Community), taking set four 25-10 and forcing a fifth set.
 
The Tartans regrouped and battled to take a 4-0 lead in set five. The Pioneers battled back with a pair of kills from Fellers to cut the lead to two, but faded a bit as CMU returned with a four-point rally.  Launder was able to drop another three kills in the closing moments, but could not get the Pioneers any closer.  The Tartans were able to close out the set, winning 15-7, and claimed victory for the second time on the day.  Earlier in the day, the Tartans took part in a neutral site game and defeated Muskingum University in another five-set marathon.
 
Launder led the Pioneers with 22 kills. Piehler finished with 13 kills. Fellers added 10 kills, three blocks, four aces, and also had 17 digs in the match. Spitler finished with 48 assists and 16 digs. Shannon led the Pioneer defense as she amassed 29 digs. 

Marietta will return to the court Wednesday (Oct. 22) when they welcome Muskingum back to the Ban Johnson Arena, this time facing each other in a conference matchup.  The scheduled start time is 7:00 p.m.

Fans can follow all of 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.