TIFFIN, Ohio -- On Friday evening, the Heidelberg University volleyball team commenced OAC play with an emphatic three-set victory over Marietta College.

The Student Princes (13-3, 1-0 OAC) took the sets in order 25-11, 25-13, 25-20 in their first of three matches as the hosts of the 2019 No One Fights Alone Invitational. 

Marietta dropped to 10-7 with the loss and 0-1 in conference play.

KEY STATS:
As a team the Student Princes attacked at an impressive .400, with just eight attacking errors all match. 

The offense was paced by a double-digit effort from Amy Feczer who ended with 13 kills on a .600 percentage. Taylor Valentine was next for the Student Princes with eight kills. 

Maddie Szawranskyj, Jordann Gudorf, and Olivia Cristian all contributed a .400 or higher hitting percentage and six kills each. 

Anna McNabb added 23 assists, while Julianna Pena chipped in 15. 

Defensively, three players reached double-digit digs as Sarah Oney had 13, Valentine had 12 and McNabb had 10. 

Valentine led the way with three total blocks on the day. 

HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Student Princes breezed through the first set, riding the energy provided by the Seiberling Gymnasium crowd. Heidelberg took the set by a commanding 25-11. Momentum swung in their favor on the heels of five early kills by Cristian, who clipped at an impressive .833 over the first stanza.

With the score 12-8, Cristian's kill and a Marietta error forced the Pioneers into a timeout. Out of the timeout, went on a blistering 13-2 run that sealed the set in favor of Heidelberg. Gudorf's fourth kill of the stanza capped off the frame with the Berg fully in control. 

Playing at the same electrifying pace, the Berg quickly put Marietta on their heels in the second stanza as well, quickly jumping out a 12-point lead, courtesy to an 8-0 run early in the set. 

At 17-5, Heidelberg showed that everything truly was clicking their way as what looked to be a kill by the Pioneers was dug by Valentine and pancaked up in the air by McNabb. On the ensuing play, Szawranskyj sent the ball over where the Pioneers could not handle the return, for the Berg point. 

Marietta briefly halted the Berg's play, but Heidelberg eventually finished off the set 25-13. In the second period, the Berg did not commit an attacking error and connected on a dominating 51% of their attack attempts. 

In the third set, Marietta began to trouble the Student Princes early, but a diving save by Alyssa Crusey immediately resulted in a block by Feczer and Valentine, keeping the Pioneers at bay. 

The play kept the momentum in favor of the Berg, but the Pioneers stayed within reach, making life difficult for the home side. Even with the more difficult challenge facing them, Heidelberg found the right time to side out, managing to take the set 25-20.  

UP NEXT:
Heidelberg will return to the court tomorrow morning for the final two games of the NOFA Invitational. At 10 a.m., the Berg will play Bluffton, followed by Mt. St. Joseph at noon. Links for live stats and video will be found on the tournament website.