MARIETTA, Ohio – The Marietta College volleyball team opened the season on the road and had to come back to defeat Denison University, 3-2 (25-14, 17-25, 24-26, 25-23, 15-9) on Tuesday (Sept. 1) evening. With the victory the Pioneers improve to 1-0 overall and with the loss the Big Red falls to 0-1 overall.
"It was great to see some grit and fight from us, " said Marietta head coach Kristy
Anderson. "We made a few in game adjustments going into set two and the girls executed!"
Marietta jumped out to an 11-7 lead in set one, getting kills from
Karly Launder (Pleasant City, Ohio/Meadowbrook),
Emily Piehler (Medina, Ohio/Medina), and
Kendyl Cannon (Senecaville, Ohio/Meadowbrook), and then continued to keep distance with Denison. A five-point rally near the end, fueled by a pair of aces by
Kamryn Haynes (Williamstown, W.Va./Williamstown), sealed the deal and the Pioneers took set one, 25-14.
The Big Red turned the tables in set two. Leading 9-7, Denison scored six straight points, three from kills by Ayla Dunbar, and pushed the lead to 15-7. Marietta tried to slow the rally with three points of their own, but Denison controlled the set with kill after kill, eventually going to a set two win, 25-17.
Set three was a back and forth affair. Denison jumped out 5-2, only for Marietta to tie at five. The scored deadlocked 11 times as the set continued. Piehler played well in the set, getting three kills and tying the score at 22-all. Later tied at 24, Dunbar closed the set with a pair of kills and Marietta faced elimination after losing set three, 26-24.
The Pioneers trailed Denison at one point 16-12 in set four, but buckled down and took seven of the next eight points, including a pair of kills from
AnnaBelle Hacker (Centerville, Ohio/Alter), to retake the lead. The Big Red fought back to lead 22-21 and looked as if they were going to finish off the Pioneers. Marietta came back to take four of the final points, two from kills by
Karley Allwood (Wadsworth, Ohio/Wadsworth), and forced a final set with a 25-23 set four victory.
Marietta took an early 6-1 lead in the fifth and final set, and although Denison closed the gap several times, they never over the top. Denison cut the lead to 10-8, but that would be as close as they get. Marietta took five of the final six points and survived to win the final set, 15-9.
The Marietta offense was led by Launder and Piehler with 14 kills apiece and Cannon followed with 10 kills. Hacker led with six blocks. Launder also led with 17 digs.
Elyse Smith (Zeeland, Mich./Zeeland East) led with 23 assists and also collected 13 digs.
Jayden Austermiller (Peyton, Colo./Springs Studio for Academic Excellence) made 25 assists
Marietta will return to the court Friday (Sept. 5) when they travel to play in the Mount Union Invitational. The Pioneers will take on Depauw University at 5 p.m. and follow with a battle with Carnegie Mellon University 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.
