LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY -- The Baldwin Wallace University volleyball team split a pair of matches today (Saturday, September 22, 2012) at the Ohio Athletic Conference/ Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Challenge hosted by Transylvania University.  

The Yellow Jackets beat Bluffton University, 3-0 and by the scores of 25-14, 25-18 and 25-11, and then lost to host Transylvania, 3-0 and by the scores of 25-18, 25-19, 23-25 and 25-21. With its split, BW is now 8-11 overall and next plays on Tuesday, Sept. 25 when it hosts Cleveland cross-town and non-league rival Case Western Reserve University in the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium in the Lou Higgins Center at 7:00 p.m.

In its match versus Bluffton,  BW was led on offensive by senior All-OAC outside hitter Amanda Sawicki (Mentor/ Lake Catholic) with 12 kills and two blocks and senior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC middle hitter Rachel Switalski (North Royalton/ Parma Heights Holy Name) with 10 kills and two blocks. In addition, junior middle hitter Kayla Harris (Lima/ Senior) had seven kills and a team-leading four blocks. Setting up the offense was junior Emily Nagle (Columbia Station/Columbia), who had 24 set assists and 15 defensive digs. On defense, senior libero Natalie Emmons (Ashland) led with 22 digs. In addition, junior right side player Shannon Deleur (Olmsted Falls) had 14 digs and junior outside hitter Taylor Burns (Tiffin / Fostoria St. Wendelin) added 13.

In its match versus Transylvania,  BW was led on offensive by Switalski with 12 kills and two blocks. In addition, Harris had 10 kills and a team-leading four blocks, Sawicki had 10 kills and three blocks and Burns had 10 kills and 13 digs. Nagle set up the offense with 43 set assists and had 10 digs. On defense, Emmons had 19 digs, Deleur had 15 and sophomore defensive specialist Paige Pileski (Elyria/ Senior) had 11.

In addition to hosting CWRU next Tuesday, BW also hosts OAC-rival Otterbein University on Friday, Sept. 28 at 7:00 p.m. and ends its three-match homestand against NCAA Division II Notre Dame College on Wednesday, October 3 at 7:00 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 email at jefmille@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest BW athletics information at www.bw.edu/athletics and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.