By: Athletic Communications Student Assistant Paige Phillips '23
BEREA, Ohio – The Baldwin Wallace University men's volleyball team swept non-conference opponent Thiel (Pa.) College by set scores of 26-24, 25-18, and 25-20. BW notched their second home win at Ursprung Gymnasium inside the Lou Higgins Center.
BW (2-3) was led by freshman right side hitter Michael Devlin (Zelienople, Pa./Seneca Valley) as he posted nine kills, seven digs, and hit .333 in the match. Devlin also added two service aces and two total blocks. Contributing eight kills and five digs was sophomore All-MCVL outside hitter Michael Beard (Hilliard/Darby). Supporting the offense with 26 assists was sophomore setter Brandon Long (Hinckley/Metea Valley, Ill.), who also hit .333 in the match and added three service aces.
The Yellow Jackets totaled 29 kills and 30 digs as a team throughout the match. BW claimed the first set by a tight score of 26-24. Thiel (1-1) held the lead in the first set until the Yellow Jackets tied it up at 8-8. The rest of the set saw the lead flip back and forth. Thiel earned two points at the end of the set, leading 24-23 and forcing BW into a timeout. After the Yellow Jackets tied it up, a pair of service aces by Long straight out of the timeout gave BW the first set win. The second set was close in the beginning, until another service ace by Long and a huge kill from Beard pushed the Yellow Jackets into a lead. BW held the lead until the end, winning the second set 25-18.
The third set was also point-for-point, as the lead flipped back-and-forth most of the set. The two teams shared 12 ties and seven lead changes. Thiel scored two points, allowing them to pull ahead at . Two huge kills from Devlin and Beard flipped the lead back to the Yellow Jackets, until the Tom Cats tied it up at 20-20. Sophomore hitter Chris Moehl (Oceanside, Calif./El Camino), sophomore outside hitter Nick Irelan (Powell/Olentangy Liberty), and Devlin each tallied huge kills, notching the third set win for BW, and the match victory (3-0).
Irelan finished the match tallying seven kills and a service ace. Freshman libero Andrew Soriano (Aurora, Ill./Benet Academy) earned eight digs for the Yellow Jackets. Sophomore middle hitter Don Travis (Reynoldsburg) added three kills on no errors and earned three total blocks.
The Yellow Jackets are back in action on Friday, February 4 when they take on Geneva (Pa.) College in a non-conference contest. The match will start at 7:30 p.m. in Ursprung Gymnasium inside the Lou Higgins Center.