PITTSBURGH -- Mackenzie Garner became the seventh player in Elizabethtown College women's volleyball history to amass 1,000 career kills as the Blue Jays fell 3-0 to Marietta and Mount Union on Friday at the Carnegie Mellon-hosted DoubleTree Invitational.

Garner entered Friday needing just one kill to reach the milestone and quickly collected No. 1,000 early in the first set against Marietta.

MARIETTA 3, ELIZABETHTOWN 0
25-21, 25-19, 25-16

Marietta's ability to close out sets was the difference as the Blue Jays were swept in their opening match of the weekend, snapping a seven-match winning streak in the process.

All three sets were close into the latter stages, but the Pioneers (8-7) came up with clutch runs in each.

Garner joined the 1,000-kill club with her first of the afternoon, pulling E-town (8-7) within 10-5 in the first set.

The Blue Jays eventually pulled even at 16 courtesy of a 7-0 run. Garner had two kills, Sarah Schneider collected a kill and a block and Shelly Yohe served up an ace in the spurt.

A few points later, E-town took its first lead, 18-17, on a Schneider ace. The Jays still led 20-19 following an Elle Shatto kill, but Marietta answered with a four-point run to gain control and went on to win the set 25-21.

After hitting .216 in the first set, Alex Hinsey's squad could only manage a .027 (8 kills-7 errors-37 attempts) in the second. Despite the offensive falloff, Marlee Dzergoski's kill midway through the set had E-town within 17-15. The Pioneers outscored the Jays 8-4 the rest of the way to go up 2-0, 25-19.

Marietta's Alissa Ginther recorded three kills and Maris Kaiser two as the Pioneers broke an 11-all tie in the third with a set-changing 8-0 run to close the match, 25-16.

Garner was the lone Blue Jay with double-figure kills, finishing with 10. Schneider had six and Shatto five. Rileigh Hudock assisted on 23 kills while adding five digs and three aces.

Ginther was the top offensive player for Marietta with 11 kills. Teammates Kaiser and Hunter Barnes each had eight and the Pioneers hit .303 as a team to E-town's .117.

MOUNT UNION 3, ELIZABETHTOWN 0
25-16, 25-15, 25-21

Undefeated Mount Union attacked at a .330 rate and compiled 43 kills en route to a sweep of the Blue Jays.

Mackenzie Garner and Marisa Krinock led Elizabethtown with nine kills apiece. Sarah Schneider had six kills and 11 digs, and Rileigh Hudock had 24 assists.

The Purple Raiders (16-0) led start-to-finish in the first set and only trailed briefly in the remaining sets.

Kirsten Powell had a match-high 10 kills for Mount Union. Madelin DiBease and Kyleigh Jackson each added eight and Chase Filicko and Marlee Peck had seven.

As a team, the Purple Raiders connected for 43 kills on 94 attempts and made just 12 attacking errors (.330). Carly Stepic had 32 assists.

Garner ended the day with 1,018 career kills. The Huntingdon, Pennsylvania native is 46 kills shy of tying her mother, Jill (Bowser), for sixth on the program's career kills list.

UP NEXT
Two more matches await the Blue Jays on Saturday at the DoubleTree Invitational. They'll face Muskingum at 3 p.m. and Bluffton at 5.