BEREA, OHIO - The Yellow Jacket volleyball team opened its 2008 season season by splitting four matches at the Kalamazoo College Hornet Invitational Tournament in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The Yellow Jackets won both of their matches on the second day by defeating Ohio Wesleyan University, 3-0, and Defiance College, 3-1, and ended the two-day tourney with a 2-2 overall record.
B-W defeated OWU by the scores of 25-16, 25-22 and 25-21 and beat Defiance by the scores of 18-25, 25-14, 25-17, 25-9. On the first day, the Yellow Jackets lost 3-0 to Anderson (Ind.) University by the scores of 25-22, 25-22 and 25-23 and lost to Olivet (Mich.) College, 3-2, and by the scores of 25-7, 25-18, 17-25, 27-29 and 15-12.
In the OWU match, B-W was led offensively by senior four-year starting middle hitter Maria DePeters (Williamsville, N.Y./ Mt. St. Mary Academy) with 10 kills and freshman outside hitter Nicole Schoen (Bellevue) had seven kills. In addition, sophomore setter Casey Passen (Ashville/ Teays Valley) led the way with 23 set assists. On defense, sophomore defensive specialist Lissy Grame (Berea) led the team with seven digs and Passen and freshman OH Chelsea Nissen (Williston/ Genoa) each had six,
In the Defiance match, B-W was led offensively by DePeters with 11 kills and Schoen had 10. Passen led the way with 18 set assists and junior Kayli Tyson (Olmsted Falls) had 15. On defense, Grame led the team with 18 digs and sophomore OH Becca Pittenger (Alliance/ Senior) and Nissen each had eight.
In the Anderson match, DePeters led the way with 10 kills and freshman defensive specialist Danielle Gerwin (Bowling Green) led the team with a pair of service aces In addition, Passen led the way with 28 set assists and Grame led the team with 22 digs.
In the Olivet match, DePeters again led the way on offense with 14 kills and helped on defense as she led the squad with four blocks. Tyson led the team with 22 set assists, Grame paced the team with 22 more digs and added a pair of set assists and Pittenger added seven digs.
Next weekend, on Friday and Saturday, September 5-6, B-W hosts the 11th Annual Marcia French Invitational Tournament in the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium of the Lou Higgins Center in Berea. Action begins on Friday night at 3:00 p.m. and B-W plays its matches at 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. The tourney then continues again on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. with BW playing at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
FOR MORE BW SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and e-mail at jefmille@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest B-W athletics information at www.BWyellowjackets.com and we invite you to join us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.
