Marietta volleyball improves to 16-2 with a pair of wins at Ohio Wesleyan Quad
Doolittle sets a school record with six solo blocks in win over Oberlin.

Sept. 30, 2006
DELAWARE, Ohio — The Marietta College volleyball team took its show on the road Saturday (Sept. 30) to compete in two matches at Ohio Wesleyan. The Pioneers (16-2) completed their best month of September in school history by sweeping non conference foes Taylor-Fort Wayne (Ind.) and Oberlin in three games.

The highlight of the day came in game two, when senior middle blocker Ellen Doolittle (Louisville, Ky./DuPont Manual) had a school-record six solo blocks in the victory.

Marietta opened the day with a 30-13, 30-25, 30-19 victory over Taylor. Senior Jaymi Stephens (Hilliard/Hilliard Davidson) led the offensive attack with 10 kills, while senior Paige Burton (Fairlawn/Archbishop Hoban) added eight kills.

Sophomore setter Caity Shirk (Middleburg Heights/Midpark) collected 25 assists in the game and now has 683 on the year.

Doolittle's jump serve gave Taylor trouble all afternoon and she finished with five service aces.

The Pioneer defense had three players finish with double-digit digs. Freshman Becca Holzworth (North Olmsted) led the way with 19 digs, while junior libero Casey Davis (Amanda/Clearcreek) and Burton added 16 and 13 digs, respectively.

Marietta also finished with nine total blocks, four by Doolittle and three by juniors Marissa Barnhart (Avon) and Paige Williams (Richmond, Ind.).

In match two against Oberlin, the Pioneers were successful 30-15, 30-25, 30-17 and Head Coach Tom Symons was able to get 13 players into the action.

Doolittle, who added four more service aces, led the team with 10 kills, while Stephens and Burton added eight and nine kills, respectively.

Shirk had 21 assists in two games (one and three); sophomore Emily Wheatley (Wyoming) finished with 13 assists in the second game.

Davis, playing just two games, had a team-best 11 digs and Stephens contributed nine. The defense combined for 10 total blocks, including a school-record six solo blocks by Doolittle.

Marietta, who is now 15-1 against non conference opponents this season, will refocus on its Ohio Athletic Conference schedule when it plays host to Wilmington on Tuesday (Oct. 3) at 7 p.m. in Ban Johnson Arena.