Sports
Marietta Beats Wilmington In Straight Sets
By: Kellen Becoats
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The Marietta College Pioneers needed a strong victory to forget the pair of tough losses they were handed over the past week.
And thanks to a strong showing by junior middle blocker Rachel Hackenberg and an aggressive offense, the Pioneers (12-15, 2-5 OAC) easily dispatched Wilmington College (1-17, 0-7 OAC) in straight sets, 25-5, 25-15 and 25-17.
Marietta was looking to rebound after two straight Ohio Athletic Conference losses and got the perfect start going into this match, accumulating 18 points before Wilmington recorded one.
The Quakers called multiple timeouts to try and get the game back on track, but the Pioneers easily drifted through the first set and looked extremely efficient on offense, recording a .360 team kill percentage and a combined 12 kills.
Wilmington fought to keep up with the Pioneers in the next set but fell a couple points short each time it went on a run.
At 13-11, with Marietta leading, the Pioneers really pushed the Quakers’ defense and went on a 12-4 run to end the set.
The first Quakers lead of the match came in the third set at 2-1 but that was their only lead of the matc,h as the Pioneers quickly exploited the weak points in the Wilmington defense.
The third set was much like the second, with Wilmington pushing to keep up with Marietta’s offense but ultimately falling short.
Hackenberg led the team with eight kills, seven blocks and two digs, while posting a kill percentage of .538. Setter Jules Mosakaluk recorded 22 assists, six digs and two service aces.
Team leader in kills and sophomore right side hitter Keri Horton was pleased to see her team win in such an aggressive and authoritative fashion.
“It was a good win for our team as a whole and it was a lot of fun to play in,” Horton said.
Marietta will be looking to end its season strong with its final matches being Tuesday at 7 p.m. against Otterbein University and Saturday, Nov. 2, against Baldwin Wallace University at 11 a.m.