Doolittle sets new record for career blocks as Marietta splits a pair of home matches
Pioneers defeat Heidelberg 3-1; fall to Urbana 3-0

Oct. 21, 2006
MARIETTA, Ohio — Senior middle blocker Ellen Doolittle (Louisville, Ky./DuPont Manual) became Marietta College volleyball's all-time leader in total blocks Saturday (Oct. 21) afternoon as the Pioneers split a pair of matches at Ban Johnson Arena.

Marietta (19-6) opened the tri-match with a thrilling 3-1 victory (30-20, 21-30, 30-27, 30-20) over Ohio Athletic Conference foe Heidelberg to improve to 3-4 in the OAC. Urbana followed with a 3-0 win over Heidelberg (30-28, 31-29, 30-24) and then defeated the host Pioneers 3-0 (30-25, 30-22, 30-27).

The Pioneers, who had not won more than one Conference match in each of the last two seasons, used a realigned lineup that included an 11-player rotation in their win over the Student Princes (17-12, 3-5 OAC). What did not change was the stellar play of Doolittle in the middle. Doolittle, who entered as the OAC leader in both service aces and blocks, led the Pioneers in both categories, while adding nine kills. The senior had seven total blocks, which moved her into sole possession of first place on Marietta's career list for total blocks with 350. She also added four service aces.

Senior outsider hitter Paige Burton (Fairlawn/Archbishop Hoban) led the team, who had a season-high 61 kills, with 16 kills. Sophomore Melissa Browne (Lisbon/David Anderson), who jumped in midway through the match for injured teammate Jaymi Stephens (Hilliard/Hilliard Davidson), finished with a career-high 11 kills.

Sophomore Caity Shirk (Middleburg Heights/Midpark) finished with 37 assists, while sophomore Emily Wheatley (Wyoming) added 18, taking advantage of her opportunities setting in place of Shirk from the back row.

Burton also paced the defense with 16 digs, while freshman Becca Holzworth (North Olmsted) stepped into the role of libero and added 12. Junior defensive specialist Nikki Veigel (Canton/South) also got her first extended role in weeks and contributed 11 digs.

Shirk complemented Doolittle's seven total blocks with six of her own as Marietta collected 14 in the win.

The Pioneers hoped to keep their momentum going after the two-hour layoff, but came out flat against Urbana and lost in straight games.

Doolittle led the offensive attack with 13 kills, while Burton added 11, junior Marissa Barnhart (Avon) had nine and Browne contributed eight.

Shirk (32) and Wheatley (12) combined for 47 assists in the game.

Holzworth had a team-high 10 digs, and Burton added eight to go along with her three service aces.

With two regular season matches to play, Marietta has collected the third most solo blocks (148) and fourth most block assists (256) and service aces (219) in a season.

Individually, junior Casey Davis (Amanda/Clearcreek) has 462 digs, which ranks fourth best in a single-season. In addition, Doolittle has 79 block assists, one shy of second most in a year, and 72 service aces, which is tied for fourth-most in a season.

The Pioneers will look to add to those totals and move further up the OAC standings when they close out the year with road matches against Capital on Tuesday (Oct. 24) and John Carroll Friday (Oct. 27). Both matches begin at 7 p.m.