Marija Cyvas

Eva Stebel

WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster volleyball team utilized a well-balanced effort to turn aside visiting Marietta College 17-25, 25-19, 25-19, 25-18 on Tuesday evening at Timken Gymnasium in what marked the Fighting Scots' final tune up for North Coast Athletic Conference play.

In déjà vu fashion to the first meeting between the two teams this season, Marietta (8-11) took set one only to see Wooster (11-5) storm back to take the final three sets.

Junior Anna Medema had Wooster within one at 13-12 after an ace in the opening frame, but Marietta pulled ahead by five at 17-12 on a kill by the Pioneers' Amanda Arrowood. Later in the opening set, Wooster was again within two thanks to a strong presence at the net. Senior Ashley Plassard was in on two blocks, the second of which pulled Wooster within 17-15, but Marietta took charge with a 6-0 run.

Back-to-back aces by first-year Seven Townsel started to tip the momentum scale Wooster's way in the second set, and that gave the Scots a four-point lead at 17-13. Wooster's series of big plays at the net down the stretch closed out the set. First, senior Marija Cyvas' solo block made it 19-15. Then, back-to-back kills by Medema and senior Eleri Miller pushed the Scots' lead out to five at 21-16. Finally, Miller and Plassard teamed up for the Scots' third block of the frame on set point.

In the third set, senior Eva Stebel took charge at the service line with a pair of aces scattered in the middle of a 6-0 stretch that pulled Wooster ahead for good. Later, Cyvas took over for a three-point spurt with a block and two kills that upped Wooster's lead to 16-9, and the middle hitter eventually put the bow on the set with her third kill of the frame.

The back-and-forth fourth set featured three lead changes and eight ties before Wooster strung together a 3-0 run to take a 20-17 lead. Later, the Scots were the beneficiary of four straight Marietta attacking errors that closed out the match.

Wooster's balanced attack was led by eight kills each from Cyvas, Medema, and Plassard, while senior Mayia Karagianni added five. Defensively, sophomore Meghan Botsch totaled a team-high 11 digs, while senior Gabrielle Basinski added 10. Other stats to note include Cyvas' five blocks.

Marietta's trio of Hunter Barnes, Alissa Ginther, and Maris Kaiser also had eight kills each. The Pioneers' April Davis logged a match-high 21 digs.

Wooster opens conference play at home on Saturday against DePauw University (7-7, 1-0 NCAC) at 1 p.m.