Marymount University

GETTYSBURG, Pa. -- Marymount women's volleyball opened up their 2026 slate at the Battlefield Classic, hosted by Gettysburg College.

Starting the day with a tight 3-1 loss over the hosting Bullets, the Saints rallied back to take down The University of Olivet in a five-set thriller.

Gettysburg 3 - Marymount 1

Saints Top Performers

Brigid Donahue
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- team-high 15.5 points
- team-high 14 kills
- 3 blocks

Renae Rohrer
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- team-high 19 digs
- 3 assists

Braelyn Ottolini
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- team-high 15 assists
- 3 service aces
- 6 digs

Emerson Aber
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- 12 assists
- 10 digs
- 3 service aces

Eliana Knaub
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- 6 kills
- .250 hitting percentage
- 2 blocks

Emerson Aber started the opening set with a service ace for the Saints, but Gettysburg answered with a four-point stretch on Erin Gonzalez's serve to move in front 5-1. The Saints got kills from Eliana Knaub and Elizabeth Stackpole as they tried to work back, but Gettysburg used five straight points on Reece Benner's serve, including a Clare Farrell kill and two aces, to extend the margin to 12-3. The Saints later strung together points behind Brigid Donahue and Stackpole, then put together four straight with Aber serving to trim Gettysburg's lead from 21-9 to 21-13. Gettysburg stopped that run, traded the next two points, and closed the set with the final three points for a 25-14 win.

After Gettysburg erased the Saints' 2-0 start to tie the second set at 2-2, the Saints scored six straight points, getting two Donahue kills, a Donahue/Knaub block on a Clare Farrell attack error, and an Aber ace to move ahead 8-2. The Saints pushed the lead to 12-4 behind consecutive Knaub kills, an Aber kill and an Angela McKenzie/Knaub block, but Gettysburg worked back to 15-13 with kills from Erin Gonzalez and Ava Grall and a Halle Feth ace among the points. The Saints answered with four straight points to go up 19-13, including a Donahue kill and two Gettysburg errors, and Donahue added kills for 20-14 and 21-15 as the Saints stayed in front. Hailey LaBonte's late service turn included a McKenzie kill, a Sabrina Schoeberlein kill and an ace that moved the Saints to 24-15, and the Saints closed the set 25-17 on a Gettysburg service error.

Gettysburg put the Saints in an early 8-0 hole in the third set, opening with an Erin Gonzalez kill and adding two Gonzalez aces while Emma Bradshaw and Clare Farrell supplied multiple kills. The Saints got back to 10-5 on a Gettysburg service error, kills by Donahue and Knaub and a Bradshaw attack error, and later trimmed a 16-10 deficit to 16-12 on Schoeberlein's kill and Braelyn Ottolini's ace. Gettysburg pushed the set to 22-14, but Donahue's kill and back-to-back blocks by Donahue and McKenzie on Bradshaw attacks brought the Saints within 22-18. After Gettysburg reached 24-18, the Saints stayed in the set on a service error, LaBonte's ace and Schoeberlein's kill before a Saints attack error closed the set for Gettysburg, 25-21.

After Knaub's kill and Ottolini's ace gave the Saints an early 2-1 lead, Gettysburg answered to go ahead 4-2 before Donahue's kill and Ava Humphries' ace put the Saints back up 5-4. Gettysburg moved from a 7-7 tie to an 11-7 lead with Kierra Fox serving, using Fox's ace, kills by Erin Gonzalez and Ava Grall and a Saints attack error. The Saints got back within 14-13 on a service error, a Gettysburg attack error and Ottolini's ace, but Gettysburg responded with seven straight points on Gonzalez's serve to build a 21-13 lead. Schoeberlein, Renae Rohrer and Donahue added late kills for the Saints, but Gettysburg moved ahead 24-15 and closed the fourth set 25-17 on a Saints attack error.

Marymount 3 - Olivet 2

Saints Top Performers

Eliana Knaub
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- 18.5 points
- 17 kills on .577 hitting
- 11 digs
- 1 service ace

Emerson Aber
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- 40 assists
- 10 digs
- 1 service ace

Renae Rohrer
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- 24 digs
- 4 assists

Elizabeth Stackpole
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- 9 kills on .389 hitting
- 2 blocks
- 10.0 points

Brigid Donahue
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- 10 kills
- 2 blocks
- 11.0 points

After the teams traded points early, Olivet used consecutive service aces by Payton Smith to move in front 7-4. The Saints answered with two Maddie Landheer attack errors and a Sabrina Schoeberlein kill to tie the set at 7-7, then moved ahead 9-8 on kills by Elizabeth Stackpole and Schoeberlein after Olivet briefly reclaimed the lead. Olivet came back with four straight points to go up 12-9 and later scored five in a row, using kills by Aleah Brackett and Payton Smith along with two Saints attack errors to stretch the score from 13-11 to 18-11. The Saints got late kills from Eliana Knaub and Stackpole, but Olivet reached set point at 24-19 on a Julia Hall kill and closed the set 25-19.

After Olivet tied the second set at 2-2, Knaub put away two kills and the Saints used Olivet errors to move in front 8-4. Brigid Donahue and Stackpole added kills as the Saints stretched the lead to 13-6, but Olivet scored three straight to pull within 13-9. After Olivet later got to 15-12 on back-to-back Saints attack errors, Knaub had two more kills during a 5-2 stretch that carried the Saints to 20-14. The Saints closed by taking five of the final six points, with Stackpole and Schoeberlein recording kills and Ava Humphries serving an ace before an Olivet attack error finished the set at 25-15.

The Saints moved ahead 4-2 on an Angela McKenzie kill, but Olivet scored six straight points, including three service aces by Kaylee McDaniel, to take an 8-4 lead. Olivet later pushed its advantage to 12-7 and 15-10 before the Saints worked back within 16-14 behind a Hailey LaBonte ace and back-to-back kills by Knaub. After the Saints stayed within 19-16 on an Olivet service error, Olivet scored four of the next five points, with Julia Hall recording two kills, and Hall later closed the set 25-19 after Donahue answered set point with a kill.

Olivet scored the first two points of the fourth set on a Jordyn Smith service ace and a Julia Hall kill, but the Saints answered with seven straight, using a McKenzie kill and a Donahue kill from Emerson Aber to turn the early deficit into a 7-2 lead. After the teams traded points to 12-7, the Saints put together another six-point run behind a Schoeberlein kill, a Knaub service ace and four Olivet attack errors, then stretched the margin to 21-8 on a Stackpole kill and two more Olivet errors. McKenzie's kill and a block by Knaub and McKenzie brought up set point at 24-10, and after a Hall kill, Donahue finished the set with a kill from Aber for a 25-11 Saints win.

The Saints built a 3-0 lead in the fifth set behind consecutive Donahue kills from Aber after an Olivet attack error opened the scoring. Olivet worked back within 6-5, with Payton Smith contributing three kills during the early stretch. The Saints answered by winning seven of the next eight rallies, getting three Knaub kills, two Stackpole kills and a Schoeberlein kill to move ahead 13-6. After Danika Skirka's kill for Olivet, Stackpole put the Saints on match point and Humphries closed the 15-7 set with a service ace.

Up Next

The Saints face Buffalo State on Saturday, Sept. 5, at 1:30 p.m. at Bream Gym in Gettysburg, Pa before rounding out the Battlefield Classic with Lycoming at 4 PM.