Marietta volleyball falls to host Otterbein 3-0, but bounces back to defeat Elmhurst (Ill.) 3-1
Doolittle now fourth all-time in kills

Oct. 7, 2006
WESTERVILLE, Ohio — The Marietta College volleyball team went 1-1 at the Otterbein College Triangular Saturday (Oct. 7). The Pioneers opened the day with a 3-0 loss to the host Cardinals in an Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) match and then capped off the afternoon with a 3-1 non conference victory over Elmhurst (Ill.).

Marietta (18-3, 2-2 OAC) was looking to make a statement early in the OAC season against Otterbein. Unfortunately, the Cardinals made one of their own with a straight-game (30-27, 30-24, 30-25) victory.

The Pioneers were led offensively by seniors Ellen Doolittle (Louisville, Ky./DuPont Manual) and Jaymi Stephens (Hilliard/Hilliard Davidson). Stephens, an outside hitter, finished with a team-high 14 kills in 46 attempts, the third most ever for a MC player in a four-game match. Doolittle, a middle blocker, added 12 kills and three aces.

Sophomore setter Caity Shirk (Middleburg Heights/Midpark) collected 32 assists in the loss.

Defensively, junior libero Casey Davis (Amanda/Clearcreek) paced the team with 22 digs, while junior middle blocker Marissa Barnhart (Avon) finished with six total blocks.

Marietta quickly regrouped from the loss to Otterbein and even shook off a shaky second game to defeat Elmhurst in four (30-28, 19-30, 30-18, 33-31).

The Pioneers had three players—Stephens (16), Doolittle (12) and junior right side hitter Paige Williams (Richmond, Ind.)—finish with double-digit kills. Doolittle is now fourth all-time at Marietta in kills with 894. Shirk added 50 assists in the win.

There were two main stories for the Marietta defense in the match. First, Davis collected 30 digs, which is the third highest total at MC in a four-game match. Davis has now totaled 30-plus digs in five matches this season and has four of the top-five best performances in the four-game, kills category.

Overall, Marietta had a school-record 132 digs and six Pioneers had at least 10 digs in the game. In addition to the 30 from Davis, freshman defensive specialist Becca Holzworth (North Olmstead) had 24, junior defensive specialist Jessica Craig (Uniontown/Lake) had 17, Shirk and senior Paige Burton (Fairlawn/Archibishop Hoban) had 15 and Stephens added 13.

The second noteworthy performance came at the net, as Doolittle finished with seven total blocks to bring her season count to 124. The senior has 52 solo blocks and 72 block assists and is creeping up on both of those single-season school records.

The Pioneers are off until Saturday (Oct. 14), when they visit Baldwin-Wallace for an OAC match that begins at 1 p.m.