BEREA, OHIO -- The Baldwin-Wallace College volleyball team defeated traditional nonleague rival Hiram College, 3-0, today (Wednesday, September 1, 2010) in its season-opening match at the annual B-W Quad in the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium of the Lou Higgins Recreation Center in Berea. The Yellow Jackets fell to Thiel College of Pennsylvania in the nightcap, 3-0.
B-W, 1-1 overall, defeated the Terriers, 25-15, 25-21 and 25-16, in the first round. In the other first round match, NCAA Division II Walsh University beat Thiel, 3-0, by the scores of 25-19, 15-18 and 25-15.
In round two of the Quad Tourney, B-W suffered their first loss of the season dropping three straight sets to the Tomcats, 25-21, 25-17 and 25-23. On the other court, the Cavaliers defeated the Terriers, 3-1, by scores of 25-23, 25-22, 22-25 and 25-10.
On the front line against Hiram, sophomore middle hitter Rachel Switalski (North Royalton/ Holy Name) led the way with nine kills and had a .292 hitting percentage. In addition, Switalski and freshman MH Colleen Bonacci (Stow/ Stow-Munroe Falls) each had two blocks. Bonacci had six kills and a .556 hitting percentage. Tying Bonacci with six kills was junior outside hitter Chelsea Nissen (Williston/ Genoa). She also had six defensive digs.
In addition on offense, sophomore setter Jessica Stitts (Eastlake/ North) and freshman Shannon Deluer (Olmsted Falls) each had five kills, and Stitts had an .833 hitting percentage and was second with 11 set assists. Senior setter Casey Passen (Ashville/ Teays Valley) led the way with 12 set assists and added six digs.
The defense was led by sophomore defensive specialist/ libero Natalie Emmons (Ashland/ Senior) with 15 digs, one assist and one service ace, and junior defensive specialist Amanda Mass (North Royalton) had 14 digs and a team-leading three aces.
In the match against Thiel, Nissen led the way with eight kills joined by Switalksi who added seven kills and both tallied six digs during the match. On the defensive side of play, Emmons contributed 13 digs, while Passen added eight digs along with leading the team in assists with 15.
The volleyball team is back in action on Friday and Saturday, September 3-4 when they travel to Kalamazoo, Michigan to participate in the Kalamazoo College Hornet Classic and play two matches each day. On the first day, B-W plays the host school at 4:00 p.m. and Anderson (Ind.) University at 6:00 pm. On Saturday, B-W plays Franklin (Ind.) College at 10:00 a.m. and ends the tourney versus Olivet (Mich.) College at 12:00 noon.
On Saturday, Sept. 10-11, B-W will host the Annual Marcia French Memorial Tournament in Berea. Matches on Friday are at 4:00 versus Fransiscan University and at 7:00 p.m. versus The College of Wooster. On Saturday, B-W plays at 10:00 a.m. against Earlham (Ind.) College and at 1:00 p.m. versus Oberlin College.
FOR MORE BW SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu or Asst. SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and email at jefmille@bw.edu Fans can access BW athletics information at www.BWyellowjackets.com and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.
