MARIETTA, Ohio – The St. John Fisher University women's volleyball team gave No. 9 Marrietta all it could handle but fell in four sets on Thursday night in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship at Ban Johnson Arena.
The Cardinals (21-9) came from behind to win the first set 26-24 and nearly pulled off another comeback victory in the second set, which the Pioneers (24-1) eventually took 25-22. Marietta won the third set 25-16 and nailed down the match victory with a 25-15 win in the fourth.
The Cardinals trailed by two points three different times at the end of the first set. And each time, they found a way to hang around, including with Marietta one point away from going ahead 1-0.
Freshman outside hitter and Empire 8 Rookie of the Year Lydia Fraser trimmed Fisher's deficit to one (24-23) with a kill, and junior middle blocker/outside hitter Marilyn Whitcavitch slammed one of her own moments later to tie the set at 24. The Cardinals took the lead on an attack error by Sophie Evans and clinched the victory on Fraser's sixth kill of the set.
"It's one of the things I love about this team," Fisher head coach Kelly Greapentrog said. "They believe at any moment that they can win a match or a set. It doesn't matter if they are down by a point or 10 points. We have come back from some big deficits throughout the course of the season. I love the faith they had in each other, the belief that they had and their ability to come back no matter what the circumstances are."
The Cardinals rattled off four quick points in the second set, but the Pioneers swiftly countered with a 6-1 run to go ahead by one (6-5). From there, the teams mostly traded the lead before the Pioneers took control at the end. After Fisher rallied back from a three-point deficit to take a one-point lead (22-21) on a kill by senior middle blocker Olivia Nellis, Marietta scored four straight points to secure the 25-22 win.
The Pioneers built comfortable leads early in the third and fourth sets en route to commanding victories. They will face Illinois Wesleyan in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at 7 p.m. on Friday.
Fisher Notes To Know
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Fraser set program records for kills (16) and hitting percentage (.361) in an NCAA Tournament match.
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Junior libero Kiera Hartpence had four services aces, tied for the second most she's had in a match this season.
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Sophomore outside hitter Kaylene Noble had 12 kills, while sophomore middle blocker Ana Gutman had seven and hit .286.
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This season marked the seventh in which the Cardinals won 20 or more matches under Greapentrog. The Cardinals have reached the 20-win mark in three of the last four seasons.
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The Cardinals made the program's sixth NCAA Tournament appearance this season.
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Greapentrog has led Fisher to five Empire 8 titles and four NCAA Tournament appearances in the last six seasons.
What They Said
Senior Olivia Nellis: "I love this team – I love these girls. We fought really hard to get here and every year our goal is to win the conference and make it to the NCAAs. That's exactly what we did. I could not be prouder of the group of girls that I play with. I can't wait to see where they go in the future. We're only getting better every single year."
Junior Kiera Hartpence: "Without the friendship and bonds we have, we wouldn't have the wins that we have. We wouldn't have the resilience that we have. I have played here for three years, and by far this was my favorite season. It's so much fun to play with these girls."
