Marietta volleyball wins Coca Cola Tournament with 4-0 finish
Pioneers improve to 8-1 with wins over Transylvania and Washington & Jefferson

Sept. 10, 2006
WASHINGTON, Pa.— The Marietta College volleyball team rolled through the Coca Cola Tournament, hosted by Washington & Jefferson (Pa.) this weekend (Sept. 9-10) to improve to 8-1 on the year.

Senior outside hitter Jaymi Stephens (Hilliard/Hilliard Davidson) was named the Most Valuable Player, while junior libero Casey Davis made the All-Tournament Team.

The Pioneers, who are off to one of their best starts in the school's 31-year history, have now won six straight matches and two consecutive tournaments. Marietta also won the River City Tournament last weekend (Sept. 1-2), something it had not done since 1991.

On Sunday morning, Marietta took down Transylvania (Ky.) in three games (30-20, 30-19, 30-13). Senior Ellen Doolittle (Louisville, Ky./DuPont Manual) led the offense with 14 kills, while senior Paige Burton (Fairlawn/Archbishop Hoban) and junior Marissa Barnhart (Avon) each added nine.

Sophomore setter Caity Shirk (Middleburg Heights/Midpark) finished with 37 assists in the victory.

Defensively, Davis led the squad with 19 digs, while Barnhart had a team-high six total blocks.

The Pioneers bounced back from a game-one loss to the host Presidents later in the day to win the match 3-1 (28-30, 30-28, 30-23, 30-28). Again, Doolittle paced the offensive attack with 15 kills, while Barnhart and Stephens added 14 and 12 kills, respectively.

Shirk, who is growing more comfortable in her first year running the offense, had 49 assists against Washington & Jefferson.

Davis matched what used to be the Pioneers' school record for digs in a four-game match with 31. The junior, however, broke the record when she collected 42 earlier in the season.

Doolittle, on the other hand, did equal a school record in the final match, totaling 15 blocks (six solo and nine assists) in the four-game victory.

Marietta will look to match the best start in history — the 1986 Pioneer squad began the year 11-1 — when it travels to Arlington, Va. on Friday and Saturday (Sept. 15-16) for the Marymount Invitational. The Pioneers will take on Wisconsin-Stout on Friday at 5 p.m. and Dickinson (Pa.) at 7 p.m. On Saturday, MC will battle host Marymount at 12 p.m. and then DeSales (Pa.) at 2 p.m.