By: Athletic Communications Student Assistant Joe Meyer '24

DALLAS, Pa. - The Baldwin Wallace University men's volleyball team was on the road for the 2023 Misericordia Cougar Classic inside the Anderson Center. BW split on day one of the invitational, falling to Medaille (N.Y.) University in five sets and beating Randolph-Macon (Va.) College in five sets. On day two, the Yellow Jackets again split, defeating Emmanuel (Mass.) College and dropping a match to No. 15 nationally ranked Nazareth (N.Y.) College.

BW vs. Medaille (1-3)

BW fell in five sets to the Mavericks by scores of 21-25, 18-25, 25-23, 25-15, and 10-15. The Yellow Jackets were led by sophomore right side hitter Michael Devlin (Zelienople, Pa./Seneca Valley) as tallied a match-high 14 kills and added five digs. Junior setter Brandon Long (Hinckley/Metea Valley, Ill.) dished out 33 assists and led the team with seven digs.

The Yellow Jackets dropped set one and two before rallying in the third. BW was tied with Medaille 23-23 before a kill from freshman middle hitter Colby Whiteside (Powell/Olentangy Liberty) and a kill from junior middle hitter Chris Moehl (Oceanside, Calif./El Camino) took the third set (25-23). BW won the fourth set convincingly (25-15), forcing the tiebreaker, but the Mavericks earned the victory in the fifth set (15-10) and the match (3-2).

BW vs. Randolph-Macon (1-2)

The Yellow Jackets earned the big five set win over RMC by final set scores of 25-12, 21-25, 25-22, 21-25, and 25-13. BW was led by Devlin as he posted a match-high 22 kills. Freshman libero Aiden Kim (Bothell, Wash./North Creek) and junior outside hitter Michael Beard (Hilliard/Darby) each totaled nine digs while Beard added seven kills. Freshman middle hitter Josh Steinitz (Towson, Md./Friends School of Baltimore) hit .400, tallying eight kills on no errors and had two blocks.

BW notched a statement first set win by a 25-12 score. After trading sets two, three, and four, the teams went into the fifth set. After being down 11-8, the Yellow Jackets tallied five straight points to earn the big 13-11 advantage. Randolph-Macon tied the game at 13-13 before a kill from junior outside hitter Nick Irelan (Powell/Olentangy Liberty) earned BW the advantage point. Whiteside closed the set (15-13) and match (3-2) from the back line with a service ace.

BW vs. Emmanuel (4-3) 

The Yellow Jackets rallied from an early deficit to take down Emmanuel College in four sets by scores of 22-25, 25-21, 25-15, and 25-17. BW was led by Beard's season and match-high 20 kills and 3 aces. Long also recorded season and match-highs with 44 assists. Devlin added 15 kills on a .423 hitting percentage, while Nick Reilman (Medina/Walsh Jesuit) came off the bench to record 6 kills on .556 hitting, as the Yellow Jackets hit .324 as a team in the opening match of day two.

After dropping the first set and falling behind 17-13 in the second, BW rallied to score 12 of the final 16 points of the second set to even the match at a set apiece. BW carried its momentum into the next frame, where the Yellow Jackets stormed out to an early advantage and never looked back en route to convincing wins in the third (25-15) and fourth sets (25-17) to close out the match and improve to 8-1 on the year.

BW vs. No. 15 Nazareth (9-0)

In BW's final match of the Cougar Classic, the Yellow Jackets battled but ultimately fell to the No. 15 nationally ranked Golden Eagles in straight sets, by scores of 18-25, 29-31, and 17-25. Beard once again paced the Yellow Jackets with a match-high 16 kills, including 10 kills in the second set. Long added 27 assists and Devlin chipped in 9 kills in what was only the team's second loss in its opening ten matches of the season.

Nazareth broke a 13-13 deadlock with an 8-2 run to take command of the first set, one that the Golden Eagles won 25-17. After the Yellow Jackets fell behind again in set two, back-to-back blocks by Whiteside tied the second set at 18, and BW rallied again to erase a 24-21 deficit, tying the set at 24 on Beard's ninth kill of the set. Nazareth would ultimately hang on to win set two by a score of 31-29 and won the third set (25-17) to close out the match.

The Yellow Jackets return to action on Thursday, February 2, as they travel to Greenville, Pa. for a non-conference tilt against Thiel College. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m. inside Beeghly Gymnasium.