Complete 2023 All-OAC Volleyball Team (.pdf)
WESTERVILLE, Ohio - Three Baldwin Wallace University women's volleyball student-athletes have been named to the 2023 All-Ohio Athletic Conference Volleyball team.
Senior Lauren Gardner (Avon/Saint Joseph Academy) earned a first-team selection, senior setter Olivia Zawadzki (Hilliard/Darby) earned second-team recognition, and junior outside hitter Sam Rueda (Aurora, Ill./Metea Valley) received honorable mention.
Gardner receives her third-straight All-OAC accolade, after earning second-team honors in each of the past two seasons, and her first first-team selection. This season, Gardner has appeared in 22 matches and 74 sets, averaging 5.35 digs per set which is third in the OAC. She currently has 396 digs on the season and adds 72 assists and 17 aces. Gardner was awarded OAC Defensive Player of the Week on October 16, totaling five weekly accolades in her career.
Gardner has posted 10 20+ dig matches this season and recorded a career-best five service aces against Berea (Ky.) College on Sept. 8. In her career, she has a total of 1,382 digs, 236 assists, and 75 aces. Gardner currently sits at twelfth place on BW's career digs leaders list.
Zawadzki earns her second straight All-OAC second-team accolade after totaling a team-high 532 assists and averaging 6.82 assists per set, fifth in the OAC. She also currently has 159 digs, 30 kills, 12 total blocks, and 36 service aces.
Zawadzki has five 30+ assist matches this season including two 40-assist matches against Earlham (Ind.) College on Sept. 15 and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Ind.) on Sept. 23. She also tallied a career-high seven aces against Kenyon on Sept. 26. In her BW career, Zawadzki has a total of 1,350 assists, 368 digs, 74 aces, 89 kills, and 59 total blocks. Zawadzki currently sits at eleventh place on BW's career assists leaders list.
Rueda earns her first All-OAC accolade after totalling a team-leading 233 kills in 24 matches. She is second on the team in digs with 210 and is third on the team in total blocks with 23. Rueda was awarded OAC Offensive Player of the Week on October 16 which was her first career weekly accolade.
Rueda recorded career-bests in kills with 19 against John Carroll University and in digs with 20 against Rose-Hulman. She also added 15 services aces and a career-best nine assists this season. In her career, Rueda has a total of 544 kills, 439 digs, 39 aces, and 44 total blocks.
The Yellow Jackets finished the regular season with a 12-12 overall record and a 5-4 mark in the OAC.
BW enters the OAC Tournament as the sixth seed and will travel to Alliance for an OAC Tournament quarterfinal match against third-seed University of Mount Union on Tuesday, November 7 in Timken Gymnasium inside the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex at 7 p.m.
