Pioneer volleyball falls to No. 23 Capital 3-0
Marietta closes out the regular season Friday at John Carroll

Oct. 24, 2006
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Marietta College volleyball team opened its final week of the regular season with a 3-0 road loss (30-25, 30-21, 30-24) to No. 23 Capital University Tuesday (Oct. 24) evening.

With the victory, the Crusaders improved to 24-7, 6-2 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Marietta fell to 19-7 overall and 3-5 in the OAC.

Marietta, who is looking to move up the OAC standings in preparation for the OAC Tournament that begins next week, had Capital on the ropes in game one. It took a late run from the home team to steal game one. From there, the Crusaders kept control of the rest of the match to secure the straight-game victory.

Individually, Senior outside hitter Jaymi Stephens (Hilliard/Hilliard Davidson) returned after a match and a half absence to lead the offense with 12 kills, while senior Ellen Doolittle (Louisville, Ky./DuPont Manual) added 10 to go along with four services.

Marietta's two-setter offense produced 36 assists. Sophomore Caity Shirk (Middleburg Heights/Midpark) had 21 and sophomore Emily Wheatley (Wymoning) had 15.

Defensively, senior Paige Burton (Fairlawn/Archbishop Hoban) had a team-high 17 digs, while junior Casey Davis (Amanda/Clearcreek) and Becca Holzworth (North Olmsted) added 15 and 11 digs, respecively.

Doolittle, the school's all-time leader in blocks, and Shirk each had four blocks assists and junior Marissa Barnhart (Avon) contributed three total blocks in the match.

The Pioneers close out the regular season Friday (Oct. 27) at John Carroll. The match, which will have a huge impact on Marietta's seed in its first OAC Tournament since 2003, is slated to begin at 7 p.m.