ALLIANCE, Ohio—The Mount Union women's volleyball team fell in five sets, 32-34, 25-10, 25-22, 16-15 and 16-18, Tuesday night to Marietta in Ohio Athletic Conference play.
The Purple Raiders (16-4, 2-2 OAC) were led in kills by
Sadie Thomas (Cambridge Springs, Pa / Maplewood) with 19,
Molly McKee (North Ridgeville) with 14 and
Zoe Sweigart (Canal Winchester).
DeLani Durst (Clyde) led with 35 assists while
Anna Mihacevich (Hinkley / Padua Franciscan) finished with 15. As for digs,
Averi Haley (Orrville) had 18,
Sam Cantrell (Eastlake / Eastlake North) had 14 with Durst and Mihacevich finishing with 13 each.
In the first set, Maietta scored the first point against Mount Union. Marietta led against the Raiders until they tied the game at 17 points after
Riley Meister (Madison) grabbed a block. Mount Union and Marietta were tied at point 24. The two teams battled all the way to 32 points, where Marietta was finally able to take a two-point lead and win 34 to 32.
The second set started with the Purple Raiders scoring the first 2 points to set the tone for the set. Mount Union outscored Marietta 6-1 before Marietta's timeout. The Pioneers stayed behind for the entirety of the set. The Purple Raiders changed the mood for this set by winning 25 to 10 against the Pioneers.
The third set started as more of a battle than the last. Both teams went back and forth for much of the set with the score tied at 22 points, the Purple Raiders were able to overtake the Pioneers 25 to 22.
Throughout the fourth set, the Pioneers were able to keep a lead for the majority. The Raiders were able to keep the points close until Marietta was able to go on a 6-point run. Mount Union wasn't able to keep the momentum and fell short. Marietta took the win for set four, 25 to 16.
As the fifth started, the Purple Raiders came out with lots of fire. Mount Union successfully led Marietta for most of the set until the Pioneers were able to tie it at 14. The Raiders and Pioneers went back and forth before Marietta was able to gain a two-point lead to earn them the win in set 5.
Mount Union gets to reset and head to Pittsburgh, Pa. on Saturday to take on two non-conference teams in No. 7 ranked Carnegie Mellon and Wittenberg at 11 am and 1 pm.
