COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Marietta College volleyball team continued its strong run through Ohio Athletic Conference play Wednesday (Oct. 21) evening, defeating host Capital University in straight sets, 3-0. (25-20, 27-25, 25-21). With the victory, the Pioneers improve to 15-7 overall and 4-1 in OAC play, while Capital falls to 3-18 overall and 0-6 in the conference.
The opening set featured 10 ties and six lead changes as neither team could create much separation early. Capital held an 11-9 advantage midway through the frame before Marietta responded behind the play of
McKenzie Heil (Westlake, Ohio/Huron) and
Emily Piehler (Medina, Ohio/Medina). The Pioneers seized control late with a decisive 6-1 run. Piehler recorded three consecutive kills during the stretch and
Jayden Austermiller (Peyton, Colo./Springs Studio for Academic Excellence) added a service ace to help extend the lead to 22-17. Heil delivered the set-clinching kill as Marietta closed out a 25-20 set one victory.
Marietta jumped out quickly in the second set as Austermiller served back-to-back aces for a 2-0 lead. The Pioneers later built an 8-3 advantage and appeared in control. Capital battled back, eventually tying the score at 14-14. The remainder of the set turned into a back-and-forth battle featuring 12 ties. The Comets reached set point first at 24-23 following a kill by Jasmine Easterday, but Marietta refused to go away. Heil answered with a kill to tie the score, and Capital committed attacking errors on two of the final three points. A block by
Karley Allwood (Wadsworth, Ohio/Wadsworth) sealed the 27-25 set two win and gave the Pioneers a commanding two-set lead.
Capital grabbed the first two points of the third set, but Marietta quickly took control. A 7-0 run highlighted by an
Emma Weiseman (Monroe, Ohio/Monroe) service ace, a
Karly Launder (Pleasant City, Ohio/Meadowbrook) kill, and multiple Capital attack errors turned a 4-4 score into an 11-4 Pioneer advantage. The lead grew to 14-6 after an ace from
Elyse Smith (Zeeland, Mich./Zeeland East). Capital later trimmed the deficit to 23-20, but Piehler delivered a kill for match point and a Capital service error ended the contest at 25-21.
Heil paced the Marietta offense with nine kills on 21 attacks without an error. Piehler added eight kills and contributed a block. Launder also finished with eight kills and seven digs. Allwood dominated defensively with six blocks. Austermiller and Smith each recorded 13 assists. Austermiller also led the serving attack with four aces. Defensively,
Sarah Podkul (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield Area) led all Pioneers with 19 digs.
The Pioneers will again hit the road this Saturday (Oct. 24) mornings at they will take on Muskingum University in conference action, scheduled for an 11 a.m. start time.
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.
