Latrobe, Pennsylvania – The Baldwin Wallace University volleyball team won four matches and was named the team champion of the Bearcat Challenge hosted by St. Vincent College to open the 2016 campaign.
BW (4-0) defeated Allegheny (Pa.) College in four sets by scores of 25-23, 25-18, 15-25 and 25-19 and Westminster (Pa.) College in straight sets by scores of 25-10, 25-16 and 25-15 in Friday's action. The Yellow Jackets defeated The College of Wooster in straight sets by scores of 25-20, 25-19 and 25-19 and the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg in straight sets by scores of 25-13, 25-14 and 25-19.
Against Allegheny, BW was led on offense by sophomore All-Ohio Athletic Conference outside hitter Alicia Lortcher (Norwalk) with a match-high 17 kills. Freshman setter Shannon Ott (Milan/Edison) and sophomore All-OAC setter Ashley Nuding (Perrysburg/Springfield) set up the offense with 22 and 16 assists, respectively. Senior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC libero Arlayna Newcomer (Norwalk/St. Paul) anchored the defense with a match-best 30 digs
In the match with Westminster, Lortcher again led the offense with a match-high 18 kills. Ott and Nuding ran the offense with 20 and 12 assists. Newcomer and junior defensive specialist Emily Daveant (North Ridgeville) led the defense with a match-best 21 digs apiece. The 21 digs were a career-high for Daveant.
Against Wooster, Lortcher led the offensive attack with a match-best 16 kills. Nuding and Ott set up the offense with 21 and 13 assists. Newcomer was the defensive stopper with a match-high 25 digs.
In the match with Pitt-Greensburg, junior outside hitter Ellen Hawkins (Worthington/Thomas Worthington), who selected to the all-tournament team, led the offense with 10 kills. Nuding and Ott started the offense with 14 and 10 assists. Newcomer led the defense with 15 digs while Lortcher added 14.
BW is back in action on Wednesday, September 7 when it plays its home opener against Penn State Behrend College in the Ursprung Gymnasium inside the Lou Higgins Center at 7 p.m.
The 18th annual Marcia French Memorial Invitational is slated for September 9 and 10 on the campuses of BW and Case Western Reserve University.