Lady Pioneers open 2007 with two five-game wins at River City Tournament
Seniors Barnhart and Davis each break a single-match record

Aug. 31, 2007
MARIETTA, Ohio — Friday (Aug. 31) will be a night that Marietta College's Ray Costa will never forget. Thanks to a gutty performance from the Lady Pioneers, he started his collegiate head coaching career with a pair of five-game victories at the 2007 River City Volleyball Tournament on Fenton Court.

Marietta (2-0) opened the five-team tournament with a 3-2 (30-27, 30-26, 26-30, 20-30,15-13) win over Ohio Valley (W.Va.). Following a three-hour break, the Pioneers pulled out another 3-2 (36-34, 30-27, 30-26, 22-30, 15-13) victory, this time against Penn State-Behrend (Pa.).

"The ladies played their hearts out tonight," Costa said. "We found some things that we need to work on, but overall the effort was there and that is most important at this stage of the season."

Senior Casey Davis (Amanda/Amanda Clearcreek) stole the spotlight in the opener, as she recorded a school-record 48 digs in the match. It is the most digs for a Pioneer in a match since she had 42 in a four-game win against Ohio Dominican at last year's River City Tournament.

As a team, Marietta also set a school record with 155 total digs, surpassing the previous mark of 145, which came against Denison in 1997.

Senior Paige Williams (Richmond, Ind.) paced the offense, which hit .245, with 17 kills, while classmate Marissa Barnhart (Avon) added 13. Freshman Kelly Schoener (Dublin/Dublin Scioto) contributed 11 kills in her first collegiate match. Junior Sarah Vadaj (Streetsboro/Kent Roosevelt) was the fourth Pioneer to reach double-digit kills; she had 10.

Juniors Caity Shirk (Middleburg Heights/Midpark) and Emily Wheatley (Wyoming) combined for 56 assists in the 6-2 offense. Shirk finished with 34, and Wheatley had 22.

Davis had plenty of help defensively, as sophomore Becca Holzworth (North Olmsted), who also had five service aces, and Shirk added 22 and 17 digs, respectively.

Marietta also had six total blocks. Barnhart paced the team with two solo and two block assists.

Barnhart was just getting started at the net, however, as she collected a school-record seven block assists in the nightcap against Penn State-Behrend. It is the most in a five-game match since Ellen Doolittle '06 had six against Wilmington in 2003. The middle blocker also added a team-high 16 kills against the Lions.

Holzworth (14), junior Melissa Browne (Lisbon/David Anderson) (11) and Williams (10) also finished with double-digit kills in the second match.

Shirk once again led the squad in assists with 24, while Wheatley was not far behind, finishing with 22.

Defensively, six Pioneers collected at least 10 digs. Davis paced the team with 38, while senior Jessica Craig (Uniontown/Lake) had 29, Holzworth added 24, Shirk contributed 20, Wheatley finished with 16 and Browne had 10. Williams also added six blocks assists and Vadaj had three.

Marietta wraps up tournament play Saturday (Sept. 1) with two more matches on Fenton Court. The Pioneers take on Thiel (Pa.) at 10 a.m. and then Chatham (Pa.) at 2 p.m.

Friday's Tournament scores:
Marietta def. Ohio Valley, 3-2 (30-27, 30-26, 32-34, 20-30, 15, 13)
Thiel def. Ohio Valley, 3-1 (30-18, 18-30, 30-26, 31-29)
Marietta def. PSU-Behrend, 3-2 (34-36, 30-27, 30-26, 22-30, 15-13
Thiel def. Chatham, 3-0 (30-10, 30-13, 30-17)
PSU-Behrend def. Chatham, 3-0 (30-13, 30-14, 30-8)