John Carroll rallied from two games down to defeat Marietta, using a thrilling fifth game to close out the regular season with a victory Friday night in Marietta, Ohio.
Box Score
John Carroll dropped the first two games 25-22 and 25-20 before rallying in the final three games, 25-12, 15-20 and 15-13.
The opener was a tightly contested affair with the two teams deadlocked at 17-17. Marietta's Amanda Sawicki had back-to-back kills late down the stretch to provide just enough cusion for the Pioneers to take first set by three points.
Game two had the potential to be devastating for JCU, as it had a lead of 21-17 only to let it slip away. The Blue Streaks had the serve at game point (24-23) but back-to-back kills by Alex Weissling and then a game ending block by Weissling and Jessie Blackley handed the Pioneers a 2-0 lead.
The middle set was the momentum changer the Blue Streaks were seeking, as a dominating effort vaulted the visitors back into the match. Trailing just once at 1-0, JCU would roll from start to finish, using a 14-5 run to close out the game.
Proving that game three was no fluke, JCU used a 6-0 run to break open game four. Ahead 10-8, a Kerry Fox kill turned the ball over to Jessica Hammer on the serve, and she would rattle off six consecutive points -- a run capped off by a service ace that made the score 17-8. The Blue Streaks would go on to win by five points.
In the decisive game five, neither team ever led by more than two points. Marietta took an 11-10 lead late, but three Meredith McDiarmid kills down the stretch helped JCU win five of the final seven points to complete the comeback victory.
John Carroll (12-16, 4-5 OAC) was led by a season-high 20 kills from Fox, which stands as the highest single match total of the 2009 season by a Blue Streak. McDiarmid added 11 kills, 15 digs and 45 assists, Laura Isbell added 12 kills and Laura Sudo contributed ten as JCU hit .294 as a team.
Marietta (18-11, 4-5 OAC) was paced by a match-high 32 kills from Sawicki. The rest of the Pioneers combined for 31 kills.
The win enables John Carroll to potential earn a seed as high as sixth in next week's OAC postseason tournament. All playoff match-ups will be decided following to conclusion of league play Saturday afternoon.