MARIETTA, Ohio—The No. 3 seed Mount Union women's volleyball team reverse swept No. 2 seed Marietta (20-25, 26-28, 25-18, 25-18 and 15-12) heading to the Ohio Athletic Conference Championship for the first time since 2014.
 
Mount Union will take on the No. 1 Seed Otterbein in the OAC Championships at 1 pm in Westerville.
 
The Purple Raiders (20-7) were led by junior outside hitters Darby Leininger (Chardon / Beaumont), Heaven Bartell (Cleveland / St. Joseph Academy) and freshman middle hitter Ava Bolen (Wellsburg, Pa. / Brooke) as Leininger had 14 kills and Bartell with Bolen each had 13.
 
Junior setter Casey Kildow (Bethesda / Union Local) finished the night with 30 assists and nine digs while freshman setter Melissa Hansen (Hudson) finished with 15 assists and seven kills.
 
Bartell finished the night with 29 digs while freshman libero Averi Haley (Orrville) had 18, senior Adrian Petrisko (Elyria) and junior Katelyn Lesko (Mineral Ridge) finished with 11 digs.
 
Marietta (15-12) was led Mia Silva with 21 kills, Emory Spitler finished with 58 assists and Maggie Fellers with 28 digs.
 
SET 1
The first set saw nine ties and three lead changes as Mount Union got out to an early lead of 9-8 off of two kills from Hansen, Bartell and Leininger. Marietta went on a 7-1 run to take a 15-10 lead but Mount Union responded with a 5-0 run with two kills from Bartell. Both teams exchanged points till a 5-0 run from Marietta again taking a 23-19 lead. Marietta finished off the set taking it 25-20.
 
SET 2
Marietta jumped out to a 6-3 lead, but Mount Union battled back to a tie at seven with a kill from three separate Raiders. Marietta took an 11-8 lead but a 6-0 run from Mount Union pushed the Raiders lead to 14-11. A separate run from each team brought Mount Union's lead to 17-15. The teams were tied at points 19 through 26 as Marietta finished off the set on a 4-1 run winning 28-26.
 
SET 3
Needing a comeback Mount Union jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the set. Marietta battled back to take a short lead at 8-7 as Mount Union used a 5-0 run to take a 12-8 lead. Marietta once again battled taking a 13-12 lead on a 5-0 run but two kills from Bolen gave Mount Union a 15-13 lead. Needing another run Mount Union found Bolen once again this time with three kills on an 8-2 run to take a 23-16 lead. Mount Union got a kill from Kildow and a setter error from Marietta to take the set 25-18.
 
SET 4
Set four saw five lead changes and nine different ties. Mount Union and Marietta battled back and forth to a tie at 10. Marietta got three quick points, but Mount Union responded with five straight points to take a 15-13 lead. Mount Union used a 10-4 run over the end of the set to take a 25-18 win as Leininger had three kills and junior middle hitter Alexis Meyer (Avon Lake) had two.
 
Set 5
Mount Union got out to a 2-1 lead, but Marietta responded taking the lead and leading by three points four separate times with the last at 8-5. Mount Union stormed back to take the lead at 9-8 with a kill from Hansen, ace from Kildow and a block from Bolen and sophomore right side hitter Sydney Mercer (Salem / West Branch). Marietta and Mount Union battled to ties at points nine, 10 and 11. Marietta took the lead 12-11 but Mount Union responded with the final four points winning the set.
 
Mount Union now turns its attention to the OAC regular season champs in Otterbein in the OAC tournament championships on Saturday, November 11 at 1 pm in Westerville.