Another tough ending awaited the John Carroll volleyball team Saturday at the DeCarlo Varsity Center.

This time, just two points separated victory from defeat.

For the third time this season at home, the John Carroll volleyball team managed to send a match to a deciding set. Despite a strong performance, the Blue Streaks fell short against the Marietta College Pioneers in an Ohio Athletic Conference match-up.
 
The first two sets were similar in score and performance. The end score was 25-21 for both, but the sets were split between each side. John Carroll took the first, while Marietta won the second.
 
The Blue Streaks' best set came in the third. After opening the set with a 6-1 scoring run, John Carroll never look back, finishing on top 25-19 and taking a 2-1 lead. Calabrese led the way with eight kills in addition to a pair of aces.
 
John Carroll seemed to hold the momentum in the fourth. However, the Pioneers came back to tie the game at 20. Alaina Mowinski tallied one kill in the final plays, but a series of Marietta kills on top of JCU errors secured the set for the Pioneers (25-21) and forced a fifth set.
 
The set opened in favor of the Blue Streaks, with John Carroll taking an early 6-2 lead and forcing a Pioneer timeout. Marietta would then answer with a 9-1 run of their own to make the score 11-7. John Carroll continued to chip away at the Pioneer lead to tie the set at 13-13, with a clutch pair of aces coming from Caitlin Cianciolo and a solo block from Thommie Jackson. However, a pair of kills by the Pioneers secured the victory for Marietta.
 
Calabrese continues to be a key component of the John Carroll offense. The outside hitter finished the match with a team-high 20 kills and season-high five kills. Julianne McGervey and Mowinski also set a new season-highs in kills with 17 and nine, respectively.     
 
On defense, Cianciolo led the team in digs with 14, while Kayla Musso followed with seven. Shannon Atwell also added six in addition to two aces.
 
John Carroll will next travel to Berea to take on the Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets in a 7 p.m. conference matchup.