Marietta College volleyball finishes 1-1 on first night of Washington & Lee Invitational
Freshman Jaimie Hartline leads Pioneers in kills with 32 on the night

Sept. 5, 2008
LEXINGTON, Va. — The 2008 Marietta College volleyball team took to the road for the first time on Friday (Sept. 5) evening when Head Coach Ray Costa took Pioneers on a familiar trek to Lexington, Va., to play a pair of matches at the Washington & Lee University Invitational. Costa was the assistant coach with the Generals before taking over Marietta’s program last season.

Marietta, playing without two injured starters, opened with a 3-1 (18-25, 28-30, 25-20, 23-25) loss to NCAA Division III Dickinson (Pa.) College. The Pioneers then bounced back to top NAIA foe Southern Virginia University 3-1 (25-22, 25-21, 20-25, 25-23) to improve its record to 4-2 on the season.

A pair of freshmen led Marietta’s offensive attack against Dickinson, as outside hitter Jaimie Hartline (North Canton/Glen Oak) and right side hitter Meredith Storey (Olmsted Falls) both collected 13 kills. Freshman middle blocker Jessie Blackley (Aurora) chipped in with 10 kills. Hartline, junior libero Becca Holzworth (North Olmsted) and junior defensive specialist Katy Williams (Richmond, Ind.) all contributed two service aces. Senior setter Caity Shirk (Middleburg Heights/Midpark) dished out 41 assists and had 13 digs. Holzworth also finished with 24 digs, while Hartline and Blackley added four total blocks.

Hartline also paced the attack in the win over Southern Virginia; she set a new career high with 19 kills. Sophomore outside hitter Kelly Schoener (Dublin/Dublin Scioto), who was making her season debut after sitting out last weekend with an injury, added 14 kills in the match, which saw Shirk handed out 38 assists. Holzworth added three more service aces and 18 digs against Southern Virginia. Sophomore middle blocker Alex Edelbrock (Findlay/Van Buren Local) led the team with four total blocks, while Blackley had three in the win.

Marietta is back in action on Saturday (Sept. 6) afternoon when the Pioneers close out the invitational with matches against Mary Baldwin (Va.) and host Washington & Lee at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., respectively.