ADA, Ohio — The Marietta College volleyball team wrapped up day two of the Ohio Northern Invitational with a split result, dropping a hard-fought opening match to Manchester University 3-0 (20-25, 15-25, 21-25). The Pioneers bounced back in the second match of the afternoon with a convincing straight-set victory over the University of Pitt-Bradford 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-21).
In the early afternoon matchup, Manchester jumped out to an early advantage behind strong net play from Alicia Simmons. Marietta fought back midway through the set with kills from
Emily Piehler (Medina, Ohio/Medina) and
Karley Allwood (Wadsworth, Ohio/Wadsworth), eventually closing the gap to 24-20 on a Piehler attack, but Manchester held on to take the opening frame, 25-20.
Manchester built momentum early in the second frame, capitalizing on Pioneer attack errors and strong distribution from setter Morgan Howard. Marietta rallied briefly with consecutive kills from Launder and service aces by
Kamryn Haynes (Williamstown, W.Va./Williamstown), but Manchester closed out the set on an 8-2 run and took set two, 25-15.
Marietta put together its best effort in the third set, staying neck-and-neck with Manchester. Down late, Marietta put together a string of defensive blocks by Annabelle Hacker and Piehler to level the score at 18-18. However, Manchester answered down the stretch, utilizing late service aces to secure the set and match sweep.
Piehler led the Pioneers with nine kills. Allwood collected six kills and led the team with four blocks.
Elyse Smith (Zeeland, Mich./Zeeland East) distributed a team-leading 33 assists and
Emma Weiseman (Monroe, Ohio/Monroe) led the defensive effort with 11 digs.
Simmons led all players with 12 kills and helped the Spartans improve to an undefeated 4-0 record.
After falling behind 3-0 to Pitt-Bradford early in the second matchup, Marietta took total control. A dominant mid-set serving run by Weiseman, complemented by continuous net finishing from Hacker and Heil, sparked a 10-1 run to build a 20-10 lead. Hacker capped off the set victory with a crisp kill off a set from Smith, giving Marietta a 25-18 set one victory.
The second set proved to be a tight, back-and-forth battle featuring several lead changes. Tied 21-21 late, Marietta leaned on its middle attack, getting a critical kill from Heil followed by back-to-back Pitt-Bradford errors forced by Pioneer net presence to seal the 25-22 set two win.
Pitt-Bradford made a late push mid-set to take an 18-17 lead, but
Jayden Austermiller (Peyton, Colo./Springs Studio for Academic Excellence) sparked the Pioneers from the service line. Austermiller delivered a service ace alongside key kills from Piehler and strong block setups, fueling a 5-0 run to push Marietta ahead 23-18. Heil put the match away with a final kill from Smith to complete the straight-set victory. Hacker led the match with 12 kills and five blocks. Piehler followed with 11 kills and Heil finished with nine kills. Smith led with 33 assists and Weiseman again led with 22 digs.
Aubrie Butler led the Panthers with 12 kills and, with the defeat, they fell to 0-8 on the season. With the win, the Pioneers improved to 5-4 on the season.
Marietta will return to the Ban Johnson Arena on Tuesday (Sept. 15) to battle Wittenberg University. The match is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start.
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.
