Box Score
John Carroll proved resilient enough to shake off losses in the opening two games and extend the match Wednesdasy night in its league opener against Marietta College at the DeCarlo Varsity Center.

But the Blue Streaks' resilience was tempered in the fourth game, as a strong start by the home team gave way to a furious rally by the visitors. In the end, the Pioneers prevailed by a 25-22, 25-20, 20-25, 25-20 score.

The thorn in John Carroll's side was Marietta's Brittney Merritt. In the opening game, she won nine consecutive points on her serve to turn an 8-5 JCU lead into a 14-8 Marietta advantage. Although JCU would storm back to take a 21-20 lead late, Marietta closed out the set by scoring five of the last six points thanks to some loose attacks by the Streaks.

Merritt would have a similar run to start game two, using a six-point burst on her serve that helped the Pioneers surge to a 12-3 lead. The Blue Streaks never got closer than four points the rest of the way.

Game three saw the John Carroll servers come to life. Strong efforts by Danielle Sample and Teresa Noewer enabled the Blue Streaks to erase an 11-6 deficit en route to a 25-20 win that extended the match to a fourth set. As a team, JCU hit .222 with Charlotte Sykora collecting five of her team-high 13 kills in that frame.

John Carroll led 16-11 in the fourth game and appeared on the verge of forcing a fifth. But Marietta, behind three kills from Keri Horton and a Mery Ervin service ace, scored seven straight points and never trailed again.

Marietta (10-4, 1-0 OAC) got a match-high 14 kills from Horton and 11 from Rachel Hackenberg on a night in which the Pioneers slugged out 52 kills. Jen Braun had 22 digs while Merritt had four of Marietta's eight service aces.

John Carroll (6-10, 0-1 OAC) was led by 13 kills from Sykora and 12 from Sarah Orlandi. Sara Kaminski led all the Blue Streaks with 20 digs