BEREA, OHIO -- Freshman middle hitter Colleen Bonacci (Stow/ Stow-Munroe Falls) had 21 kills and four blocks as the Baldwin-Wallace College volleyball team split a pair of matches today (Friday, September 24, 2010) on the first day of the two-day Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference versus Ohio Athletic Conference Challenge being played at the College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati.
The Yellow Jackets, now 12-7 overall prior to playing Transylvania (Ky.) College at 11:00 a.m. and then Trine (Ind.) University at 3:00 p.m. on the second day on Saturday, Sept. 25 in the Classic Tournament format, lost to the host school, 3-1, and then rebounded to beat Hanover College of Indiana, 3-2.
In the loss to MSJ, Bonacci had a team-leading 11 kills and three blocks. In addition, sophomore middle hitter Rachel Switalski (North Royalton/ Parma Heights Holy Name), who was named to last weekend's Salisbury (Md.) University all-tournament team, had nine kills, four defensive digs and two set assists, and freshman outside hitter Shannon Deleur (Olmsted Falls) had seven kills, seven digs, two set assists and two service aces.
Offensively, senior setter Casey Passen (Ashville/ Teays Valley), who moved into third place on B-W's all-time set assist chart with 24 this past Wednesday, had 16 against MSJ and had 3,048 for her career prior to playing Hanover. Passen also had 13 digs. In addition, sophomore setter Jessica Stitts (Eastlake/ North) had 14 set assists, five kills, a dig and a block. Defensively, sophomore libero Natalie Emmons (Ashland/ Senior) led the team with 28 digs and freshman defensive specialist Taylor Burns (Tiffin/ Fostoria St. Wendelin) had 18 digs, four kills and a set assist.
In the victory against Hanover, junior outside hitter Chelsea Nissen (Williston/ Genoa) led the team with 14 kills and a .282 hitting percentage and contributed 10 digs and an ace. Bonacci had 10 kills and a block, Switalski had nine kills, two digs and a team-leading five blocks and Burns had seven kills, 14 digs and a team-high two aces. Passen led the offense with 20 set assists and contributed 12 digs and a kill. Stitts had 15 set assists, two kills and a dig. Defensively, Emmons again topped the team with 27 digs, had two set assists and a kill and Deleur had 15 digs, four blocks, three kills, three assists and an ace.
Following its trip to Cincinnati, the Yellow Jackets retirn to Berea and next play on Thursday, Sept. 30 when they host NCAA Division II Notre Dame College of Ohio in the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium of the Lou Higgins Center at 7:00 p.m. Next Saturday, October 2, B-W opens 2010 Ohio Athletic Conference play when it travels to Marietta, Ohio and plays rival Marietta College at 1:00 p.m.
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 Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and e-mail at jefmille@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest BW athletics information at www.BWyellowjackets.com and we invite you to join us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.
