ALBION, Mich. – The Baldwin Wallace University women's volleyball team competed on day two of Albion/Olivet Invitational inside the Kresge Gymnasium. The Yellow Jackets (8-4) defeated Kalamazoo (Mich.) College (2-6) in four sets (22-25, 25-19, 25-16, 25-12) as junior setter Olivia Zawadzki (Hilliard/Darby) tallied her 2,000th career assist in the match. BW fell to Albion (12-0) in four sets (16-25, 25-17, 19-25, 21-25).
MATCH 1
The first set was back-and-forth, and the teams found themselves tied at 22-22 late after a big block by freshman middle hitter Maleia Thurber (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral) and freshman outside hitter Gabby Schlecht (Naperville, Ill./North). Three straight points by the Hornets closed set one, Kalamazoo taking it 25-22. BW earned a 19-16 advantage in set two to force Kalamazoo to a timeout. BW doubled the lead out of the break and took set two, 25-19.
Four straight points by BW put the Yellow Jackets up 8-3 to make Kalamazoo spend its first timeout. Back-to-back aces by Schlecht put BW up 17-9 to force the Hornets to their second timeout. The Yellow Jackets went on claim the set three win, 25-16, to go up 2-1 in the match. After trailing 5-7, BW went on an 8-2 run to earn a 13-9 advantage and force Kalamazoo to a timeout. The Yellow Jackets outscored the Hornets 11-3, and scored the last six points, to close the set (25-12) and to win the match, 3-1.
KEY STATS
32 - Zawadzki totaled 32 assists, nine digs, five kills, and five blocks
15 & 5 - Freshman libero Paige Contris (Pemberville/Eastwood) finished with a team-high 15 digs and added five service aces
Schlecht led the team with nine kills while Thurber tallied eight kills (.583)
Senior Academic All-OAC middle hitter Isa Luciano (Willoughby/South) posted seven blocks and five kills
MATCH 2
BW fell behind in set one, 5-1, and called a timeout. The Britons continued to distance themselves, going up 16-9 and went on to win set one 25-16. The Yellow Jackets earned the early lead in set two, up 9-5. BW stayed up by four points with a big kill by sophomore outside hitter Sam Rueda (Aurora, Ill./Metea Valley), 18-14. Albion closed the gap to just one point (18-17) before seven straight points by the Yellow Jackets claimed the set two win, 25-17. BW hit .467 as a team in set two.
The Yellow Jackets fell behind 6-1 to start set three, taking their first timeout. BW trailed 15-9 and took its second timeout before the Britons won the game, 25-19. The Yellow Jackets earned the big 6-1 lead to start the fourth. BW grabbed a huge 21-16 advantage over Albion before the Britons scored seven straight to close the set (25-21) and to win the match, 3-1. The Yellow Jackets held the undefeated Britons to a .147 team hitting average.
KEY STATS
11 – Luciano led the team with 11 kills and hit .529, adding three blocks
38 & 12 – Zawadzki tallied a double-double with 38 assists and 12 digs
17 – Contris tied her career-high with 17 digs and added two service aces
Rueda posted 10 kills while Thurber hit .462 and totaled nine kills
UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets are back in action Friday, September 23 and Saturday, September 24 as they travel to the North Park (Ill.) Invitational. BW will take on University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh on Friday at 12:30 p.m. inside North Park Gymnasium.