Marietta falls to Mount Union 3-1 in OAC volleyball
Pioneers slated to play Shawnee State on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Oct. 14, 2008
MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College volleyball team fell to visiting Mount Union College Tuesday (Oct. 14) night in Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) action at Ban Johnson Arena. The Purple Raiders won 25-15, 22-25, 25-15, 25-21 to improve to 18-7 overall and 4-2 in the OAC. The Pioneers, who fell to 8-5 at home, are now 13-11 overall and 1-4 in league play.

Freshman outside hitter Alex Weissling (Dublin/Dublin Scioto) led Marietta with 17 kills and three service aces, while senior middle blocker Sarah Vadaj (Streetsboro/Kent Roosevelt) finished with 11 kills and two service aces. Freshman right side hitter Meredith Storey (Olmsted Falls) also added nine kills in the loss. Senior setter Caity Shirk (Middleburg Heights/Midpark) dished out 46 assists in the match.

Junior libero Becca Holzworth (North Olmsted) collected a team-high 23 digs and Weissling contributed 11 digs to pace the Pioneers' defense. In addition, freshman middle blocker Jessie Blackley (Aurora) had four block assists, while Shirk had three block assists.

Mount Union was led offensively by Melissa Mahnke with a match-high 20 kills, while Sarah Parker had 11 and Roni Schroeder finished with 10. Purple Raiders' setter Julie Radigan had 34 assists in the win. Nicole Baka paced Mount Union's defense with 17 digs, while Michelle Simmons had 10 digs. Parker also contributed to the win with five block assists.

Marietta will take a short break from it OAC schedule to play host to Shawnee State on Thursday (Oct. 16) night. The match will begin at 7 p.m. The Pioneers will then close out its home schedule against OAC rival Baldwin-Wallace College on Saturday (Oct. 18) at 1 p.m. Saturday will be Senior Day for four Marietta student-athletes.