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VOLLEYBALL
The Marietta College volleyball team opened the season on the road and had to come back to defeat Denison, 3-2 (25-14, 17-25, 24-26, 25-23, 15-9) on Tuesday evening. With the victory the Pioneers improve to 1-0 overall and with the loss the Big Red falls to 0-1 overall.
“It was great to see some grit and fight from us, ” said Marietta head coach Kristy Anderson. “We made a few in-game adjustments going into set two and the girls executed!
Marietta jumped out to an 11-7 lead in set one, getting kills from Karly Launder, Emily Piehler, and Kendyl Cannon, and then continued to keep distance with Denison. A five-point rally near the end, fueled by a pair of aces by Kamryn Haynes, sealed the deal and the Pioneers took set one, 25-14.
The Big Red turned the tables in set two. Leading 9-7, Denison scored six straight points, three from kills by Ayla Dunbar, and pushed the lead to 15-7. Marietta tried to slow the rally with three points of their own, but Denison controlled the set with kill after kill, eventually going to a set two win, 25-17.
Set three was a back and forth affair. Denison jumped out 5-2, only for Marietta to tie at five. The scored deadlocked 11 times as the set continued. Piehler played well in the set, getting three kills and tying the score at 22-all. Later tied at 24, Dunbar closed the set with a pair of kills and Marietta faced elimination after losing set three, 26-24.
The Pioneers trailed Denison at one point 16-12 in set four, but buckled down and took seven of the next eight points, including a pair of kills from AnnaBelle Hacker, to retake the lead. The Big Red fought back to lead 22-21 and looked as if they were going to finish off the Pioneers. Marietta came back to take four of the final points, two from kills by Karley Allwood, and forced a final set with a 25-23 set four victory.
Marietta took an early 6-1 lead in the fifth and final set, and although Denison closed the gap several times, they never got over the top. Denison cut the lead to 10-8, but that would be as close as they get. Marietta took five of the final six points and survived to win the final set, 15-9.
The Marietta offense was led by Launder and Piehler with 14 kills apiece and Cannon followed with 10 kills. Hacker led with six blocks. Launder also led with 17 digs. Elyse Smith led with 23 assists and also collected 13 digs. Jayden Austermiller made 25 assists
Marietta will return to the court Friday when they travel to play in the Mount Union Invitational. The Pioneers will take on Depauw at 5 p.m. and follow with a battle with Carnegie Mellon at 7 p.m.
WOMEN'S SOCCER
The Marietta College women’s soccer team put together a strong performance, especially in the second half, to open 2026 with a 2-0 victory over Washington and Jefferson College. The Pioneers move to 1-0 and Presidents fall to 0-1 on the season.
“Great team effort, ” said assistant coach Cody Kibler, filling in for head coach Zack Votra who was serving a suspension held over from last year. “To play that many players and control a game in that manner is pretty incredible. Credit to the team for buying into the game plan and bringing our vision to life!”
Although both teams started well, Washington & Jefferson created the first real chance five minutes in, when Maura Heberle forced Pioneer goalkeeper Francesca Agliolo into a diving save to her left. Despite being outshot 5-3 by Marietta, W&J held firm, and the match went into intermission deadlocked at 0-0.
The game stayed tight into the second half before Marietta finally broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute. Junior transfer Jaylyn Thornton put the Pioneers ahead with a goal off an assist from Madelyn Call. Just four minutes later, Agliolo launched a booming downfield pass to find Thornton, who converted the opportunity past W&J goalkeeper Molly Schoch to double the lead. Marietta’s defense stood firm the rest of the way, keeping W&J off the scoreboard to secure the 2-0 shutout. Agliolo went the distance in goal, playing all 90 minutes and recording three saves.
The Pioneers will return to the field Saturday when they travel to play in the PSU-Behrend Herb Lauffer Memorial Tournament. They will play host Penn State Behrend at 3:30 p.m. and then former conference foe John Carroll the following day, also at 3:30 p.m.
MEN'S SOCCER
The Marietta College men’s soccer team opened the 2026 season with a hard fought come from behind win Tuesday evening on the blue turf at Marietta Field. The Pioneers downed Geneva College by the score of 2-1.
“”Not the prettiest game we have ever played but I’m so proud of the grit the team showed in coming back to get the win,” Marietta head coach Joe Bergin said. “Lots of credit goes to assistant coach Rob Phillips as he literally drew up the play on the game winning corner kick during the hydration break.”
All the offense came in the second as neither team found the back of the net in the opening 45 minutes. Geneva held a 6-3 advantage in shots during the first half, but none of the nine shots in the period were on goal. The Pioneers could not capitalize on five first half corners.
Geneva grabbed the lead in the 50th minute. Colin Shea fired a shot that hit the right post and ricocheted right to Msafiri Amisi in the six-yard box. Amisi’s follow-up shot gave the Golden Tornadoes the 1-0 lead.
Marietta was the beneficiary of a video review seven minutes later. After a lengthy review, the Pioneers were awarded a penalty kick in the 57th minute. Zach Kern buried the penalty in the back of the net leveling the match, 1-1.
Marietta earned a corner in the 84th minute. Gavin Heighberger put the corner kick into the back of the net for the game winner with assists from Ben Beckman and Rowan Brown.
Freshman Travis Lutz went the distance in goal for the Pioneers recording one save in his collegiate debut.
Marietta plays at Maryville (Tenn.) College on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.