Marietta volleyball will have to wait a little longer for its first Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament championship. For the second year in a row, the top-seeded Pioneers lost to Otterbein 3-1 in the title game at Ban Johnson Arena on Saturday afternoon.

“It’s not the outcome that we wanted, but we stay true to who we are, and our core value is to love each other well. If we can walk away and say that then it’s huge,” said Marietta coach Kristy Anderson. “This team did a lot of things many people didn’t think they would do. I’m super proud of them for that.”

Otterbein, who has won four-consecutive OAC championships, was sparked by a dominating performance in the first set. The Cardinals jumped out to a 13-3 lead and kept rolling to a 25-14 win.

“We’ve been able to do that a couple of times, but then we lose the momentum later in the set and things have gotten close,” said Otterbein’s veteran coach Monica Wright. “So, I think that was a huge step for us as we were able to keep our foot on the gas the entire set. That was definitely huge.”

The Cardinals (24-5) extended the lead to 18-5 before Marietta (17-8) started to put up some fight. The Pioneers went on a 7-1 run to cut the lead to 19-12. But Otterbein closed the set behind back-to-back kills by Brooke Barb, who was named to the All-OAC Tournament team.

“I think that we got a little rattled when we normally wouldn’t have,” Anderson said. “When they are in system, they are fast. We knew that going in and we prepared for that, but it was a little faster than they expected at first.”

The second set was more competitive as the Pioneers led most of the way, including 23-20. However, the Cardinals were unfazed and scored the final five points to take the set 25-23. Emma Steiger served up two aces during the run, including the set-clinching point.

Marietta extended the contest by winning the third set 25-19. Marietta senior Jillian Fellers had four of her 15 kills in the set, while sophomore Karly Laudner had five of her 15 kills and sophomore Emily Piehler added three of her nine kills.

The fourth set was competitive with Otterbein holding a 14-13 advantage. But the Cardinals outscored Marietta 11-5.

“They were in system, and we weren’t, and at the end of the day that’s what it comes down to,” Anderson said.

Leading 15-13 following a kill from Barb, Otterbein’s Olivia Jurcevic extended the lead to 20-13 by serving five consecutive points. The Pioneers cut it to 22-18 before the Cardinals closed out the final three points for the win.

Leading Otterbein was Lexi Scott with 12 kills, while Chandler Crowell had 11 and all-tournament selection Emerson Baum had 10 kills, five digs and two blocks. Otterbein setter Olivia Vitaz earned tournament MVP honors with 37 assists, 13 digs and five kills in the title contest.

Marietta setter Emory Spitler also earned all-tournament honors with 33 assists, 11 digs and three kills. Also earning all-tournament honors are Muskingum’s Josie Niemeyer and Ohio Northern’s Julian Gaier.

Otterbein earned the OAC’s automatic spot in the NCAA Tournament next week. Wright said she is excited to see her team’s season continue.

“We have a really good group of seniors and any day we can coach them one more time is a good thing,” she said.