Marietta volleyball welcomes Wilmington for OAC home opener

Sept. 27, 2005
MARIETTA, Ohio - After a two-week hiatus in which the Marietta College volleyball team returned to non-league action, the Lady Pioneers begin the core of their Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) schedule tonight (Sept. 27), when the Wilmington Quakers make a trip to Fenton Court in Ban Johnson Arena for a 7 p.m. match.

Marietta (4-9, 0-1 OAC) is coming off weekend split at the Wooster Triangular. The Pioneers defeated Kenyon 3-0 (30-20, 30-27, 30-27) in their first match of the day, only to fall 0-3 (16-30, 18-30, 20-30) to the host Fighting Scots in the afternoon finale.

Against the Ladies of Kenyon, junior middle blocker Ellen Doolittle (Louisville, KY/DuPont Manual) led the Pioneers with a season-high 13 kills, while hitting a season-best 0.545. In addition, freshman setter Heather Faehnle (Columbus/Hilliard Davidson) tied her career-high with four service aces.

As of September 26, Faehnle ranks seventh in the OAC in assists, averaging 9.09 per game, and junior outside hitter Paige Burton (Fairlawn/Akron Hoban) is sixth in service aces, averaging 0.44 per game.

Overall, junior outside hitter Jaymi Stephens (Columbus/Hilliard Davidson) leads the team with 123 kills, while also adding 126 digs and 13 blocks.

Marietta, who is 3-2 on Fenton Court in 2005, has yet to defeat a team who is at home this season.

Wilmington (7-8, 0-0 OAC) recently took part in the first ever Transylvania Tournament, where it went 3-1. The Quakers avenged a loss earlier in the week to the host Pioneers by defeating them 3-0 (35-33, 31-29, 30-27) on Saturday.

Against Transylvania, freshman outside hitter Katelyn Roush (Frankfort/Adena) led the Lady Quakers with 16 kills, while junior outside hitter Dani Spears (Dayton/Carroll) added 15. Senior setter Jill Brown (Seaman/North Adams) finished with a team-high 20 assists.

As of September 26, Wilmington’s Spiers ranks third in the OAC, averaging 3.83 kills per game, while Roush sits sixth, averaging 3.54 kills per game. In addition, junior Amber West’s (Washington C.H./Miami Trace) 0.50 service aces per game ranks her fourth and sophomore Lindsay Ford (West Mansfield/Benjamin Logan) is sixth, averaging 4.87 digs per game.

Following tonight’s match, Marietta will return to action Saturday (Oct. 1) when it travels to New Concord to battle OAC rival Muskingum. A junior varsity match is set for 11 a.m. with the varsity contest to follow at 1 p.m. Wilmington’s next match is Thursday (Sept. 29) when it visits Kenyon at 7 p.m.