It took a full five games, but the Marietta High volleyball team edged Claymont in a league match Monday at Marietta High School.
It was a back and forth contest all night, but the Lady Tigers will take it as they improve to 9-4 overall on the season and 4-2 in the ECOL.
The two teams traded the first four games, Marietta winning the first 25-14 and the third 25-23. The Lady Mustangs took the second game 27-25 and fourth game 28-26. As close as the first four games were, the final game did not fail to follow suit.
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JORDAN HOLLAND The Marietta Times
Marietta’s Mattie Miller (6) and Lain Weppler (14) celebrate a point against Claymont at Sutton Gym Thursday night. The Tiger netters won in five games.
Marietta jumped out to an 8-5 lead in the fifth game, forcing Claymont to call a timeout. From there, the Ron Kidder-led Lady Tigers nailed it down with a 15-12 victory.
"We got off to a good start," Kidder said. "We thought 'Oh, this might be kind of easy,' but it didn't turn out that way. We were able to pull this one out. Anytime you face somebody in this league, they're gonna give you a battle."
Kaitlyn Cozzens had a huge game for the Lady Tigers, posting 42 assists, 20 digs, 13 points, and four aces. Alexis Walsh also played well with 42 digs and 13 points.
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At Marietta High School
Marietta d. Claymont 25-14, 25-27, 25-23, 26-28, 15-12
Marietta (9-4, 4-2) stats: Cozzens 13pts, 4aces, 4kills, 42asst, 20digs; Walsh 13pts, 1ace, 42digs; Haas 9pts, 3aces, 12kills, 8digs, 2blocks; Crum 7pts, 2aces, 1kill, 1asst, 13digs; Miller 7pts, 11digs; Hutchinson 3pts, 2kills, 5digs, Hill 1pt, 1ace, 18kills, 14digs, 1block; Weppler 11kills, 2digs; Bonar 8kills, 1asst, 7digs, 1block; Abby Harrison 3pts, 2digs
JV: Marietta d. Claymont 25-13, 22-25, 25-21
Next match: Warren at Marietta at 11 a.m. Saturday
Waterford d. Belpre 25-10, 25-18, 25-8
Waterford (9-3, 7-1) stats: Hannah Dailey 5asst; Brooke Drayer 6pts, 4aces, 16kills; Jayde Heiss 9pts, 3aces, 1asst, 4kills, 1block, 1dig; Laura Hill 6pts, 2aces, 3kills; Taylor Hilverding 6pts, 2aces, 9kills, 3digs; Haley McCutcheon 2kills, 1dig; Alyssa Miller 13pts, 4aces, 32asst, 2digs; Chelsey Paxton 5pts, 3aces, 1asst, 6kills, 2digs; Katie Semon 1dig; Madison Sury 2kills; Dani Drayer 1asst
JV: Waterford d. Belpre 25-11, 25-23
JV (8-1, 7-1) stats: Allison Rohrer 1pt, 2kills; McCutcheon 3pts, 1ace, 2kills, 1block; Olivia Bellville 2pts, 2aces, 1kill; Emily Smith 8pts, 5aces, 11asst; Regan Porter 3pts, 1aces, 3kills; Katrina Schwendeman 1asst, 1kill; Dani Drayer 3kills; Hope Schilling 1pt, 1ace; Jessie Reynolds 4pts, 3aces, 2kills; Nicole Neslein 7pts, 3aces, 1kill
Next match: Waterford at Wahama at 6 p.m. Monday
"Both teams played hard and it was a battle," Kidder said. "They're a scrappy team. It came down to conditioning. If you're gonna play in five you gotta be in shape."
"We did not expect to play that kind of game," said Gracie Haas. "We really expected to get the first three. It was a battle. I think we did not push when we needed to at times but we did at the end when it counted, and that's all that matters."
Along with Cozzens and Walsh, Haas and Haley Bonar also had good performances. Haas pitched in 12 kills, nine points, and eight digs, while Bonar contributed eight kills and seven digs.
"I played one of my better games," Haas said. "I think I'm improving every game."
"Our strengths tonight were being able to find holes when they were tipping," Bonar said. "Our hitting was on. When it comes down to it, you need everyone to have a good night. I feel like I contributed in a good way."
Also chipping in for Marietta was Kourtney Crum, Mattie Miller, Holly Hutchinson, Kristen Hill, and Lain Weppler. Crum and Miller each had seven points, while Crum had 13 digs and Miller had 11. Hill had 18 kills and 14 digs. Weppler had 11 kills, and Hutchinson had five digs and three points.
In junior varsity action, the Lady Tigers won in three games. After winning the first game 25-13, they dropped the second one 22-25. In the final game the Lady tigers came away with a victory by a score of 25-21. Marietta is back in action Saturday in a non-league match against Warren at Marietta High School. The JV match begins at 11 a.m. followed by the varsity.
