BEREA, Ohio - The No. 19 nationally ranked Baldwin Wallace University men's volleyball team hosted the 2024 Yellow Jacket Invitational where it dropped three non-conference matchups against No. 10 nationally ranked North Central (Ill.) College, Messiah (Pa.) University, and No. 9 nationally ranked Nazareth (N.Y.) University in Ursprung Gymnasium inside the Lou Higgins Center.
BW (5-7) opened the Invitational on Thursday by falling to North Central (8-2) in four sets by scores of 22-25, 14-25, 36-34, and 22-25. On Friday, the Yellow Jackets fell to Messiah (7-5) in a five-set thriller by scores of 26-28, 20-25, 25-23, 25-19, and 12-15. The Yellow Jackets wrapped up the Invitational on Saturday as they fell to Nazareth (11-1) in another five-set match by set scores of 20-25, 25-23, 16-25, 25-21, and 11-15.
vs. No. 10 North Central
- Senior All-MCVL outside hitter Michael Beard (Hilliard/Darby) finished with 18 kills to lead the Brown and Gold offense
- Senior All-MCVL setter Brandon Long (Hinckley/Metea Valley [Ill.]) led the team in assists with 38, in digs with 11, and in service aces with two
- Junior All-MCVL right-side hitter Michael Devlin (Zelienople, Pa./Seneca Valley) was also in double-figures in kills with 10
- Sophomore libero Aiden Kim (Bothell, Wash./North Creek) also contributed nine digs
- Sophomore middle hitter Colby Whiteside (Powell/Olentangy Liberty) led the team in blocks with one solo and one assist
vs. Messiah
- Long recorded a career-high 56 assists and grabbed a team-high 12 digs
- Outside hitters Daniel Latham (Westerville/Westerville Central) and Owen Huynh (Loveland) led a freshmen takeover after tallying 20 kills and 16 kills, respectively
- Beard added 17 more kills and two service aces
- Freshman libero Jack Sullenberger (Powell/Olentangy Liberty) recorded a career-high six digs in four sets for the Yellow Jackets
- Huynh defended the net with four solo blocks and two block assists
- Latham also finished with 10 digs, two total blocks, two service aces, and a .395 hitting percentage
vs. No. 9 Nazareth
- Beard and Long each tallied a team-leading nine digs
- Senior Academic All-MCVL outside hitter Nick Irelan (London/Olentangy Liberty) contributed 12 kills for the Brown and Gold
- Latham led the team in kills once again with 17
- Junior middle hitter Reed Fisher (Freedom, Pa./Ambridge Area) and sophomore Academic All-MCVL middle hitter Josh Steinitz (Towson, Md./Friends School of Baltimore) each had three total blocks
- Long added 42 more assists for a total of 136 on the weekend
- Fisher hit .542 on 11 attack attempts
The Yellow Jackets return to the court on Saturday, February 24 as they travel to Hiram for two non-conference matches against Hiram College at 11 a.m. and No. 11 nationally ranked Juniata (Pa.) College at 1 p.m. in Price Gymnasium.
