Written by: Zachary Worstell (zdw001@marietta.edu)
This weekend the Marietta College Pioneers travel to Holland, Michigan to face two ranked opponents, Hope College, and Illinois Wesleyan University. Last season, Marietta was eliminated in the NCAA tournament by Illinois Wesleyan. Hence, the Pioneers are seeking revenge this weekend.
Marietta is coming off their second loss of the season. They lost on the road to the up-and-coming Transylvania University program who is 11-4 this season. However, Marietta’s 3-0 home win over Denison keeps them 9-2 and ranked 14th in the AVCA Coaches Top 25 Poll.
Earlier this season Hope was ranked 3rd overall in the AVCA poll, however have since fell to #18 Hope College started out 4-1 only suffering a 3-2 loss to Denison. However, at the Wisconsin Oshkosh Tournament, the Flying Dutch fell short dropping all three matches. They lost to the University of Chicago 3-2, #2 University of La Verne 3-1, and #3 ranked Wisconsin Oshkosh 3-0.
They’ve since gone on to score a ranked win over #22 Carnegie-Mellon and win four straight at the Gallaudet University Tournament. In D.C., they swept the University of California Santa Cruz, Gallaudet, and Whittier College. They dropped the first set vs Franklin & Marshall but took three straight to advance to 9-4.
Illinois Wesleyan has had a perfect season thus far. Although, it wasn’t without any challenges. As their season started off with a close call as they went to the fifth set vs Earlham College. However, the Titans ended up beating them 15-11 in the fifth set and defeated Greenville 3-0 and formerly #20 ranked Chicago 3-0 at home.
The Titans traveled to Texas for the SU Invitational where they swept Texas Lutheran, Puget Sound, and Southwestern. They continued their road dominance sweeping DePauw and Wheaton College. Back at home for their second invitational they swept Wittenberg, Rose-Hulman, and Coe. This put them at 11-0 and ranked #7
Before they play Marietta, they host Elmhurst on Wednesday. The Hope College Tournament is important for the Titans to prove their legitimacy as they only have 1 ranked win this season.
Game one versus Hope College takes place this Friday, September 26th, at 7:00 p.m. Game two is on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. The broadcast can be watched live on Hope College Athletics YouTube channel @hopeathletics. To keep up with Marietta College Volleyball visit them at pioneers.marietta.edu/sports/womens-volleyball.
