CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Baldwin Wallace University women's volleyball team dropped a non-conference match to crosstown rival Case Western Reserve University in straight sets in the Horsburgh Gymnasium inside the Veale Center. The Yellow Jackets (6-3) fell to the Spartans (8-1) by set scores of 25-17, 25-17, and 25-21.
SUMMARY
CWRU earned the 6-0 jump on the Yellow Jackets before a kill from sophomore right side hitter Allison Weiner (Westerville/St. Francis DeSales) put BW on the board. The Yellow Jackets battled all the way back and with a solo block by freshman middle hitter Maleia Thurber (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral) put BW behind by just one point, forcing a Spartan timeout. Case Western Reserve regained a substantial lead, going up 16-9, and closed out the first set 25-17.
BW fell behind 9-5 in second set causing the Yellow Jackets to take an early timeout. Down 16-8, BW tallied four straight points with two blocks and a kill from Thurber and an error by the Spartans, forcing a Case Western Reserve timeout (16-12 CWRU). The Spartans outscored the Yellow Jackets 9-5 to close out set two 25-17, going up 2-0 on the Yellow Jackets in the match.
The Yellow Jackets struck first in the third set with a kill from sophomore outside hitter Sam Rueda (Aurora, Ill./Metea Valley). After being down 8-4, back-to-back blocks from senior Academic All-OAC middle hitter Isa Luciano (Willoughby/South) put the Yellow Jackets within one to force a CWRU timeout. Out of the break, a kill by sophomore outside hitter Sydney Simonson (Sullivan/Black River) tied the game at 8-8. From there, it was back-and-forth play. The Yellow Jackets went down 16-12 but went on a 6-1 run to earn a 18-17 lead. CWRU tallied three straight to force BW to its second timeout and went on to earn the set (25-21) and match (3-0) win.
KEY STATS
14 - Sophomore All-OAC libero Lauren Gardner (Avon/Saint Joseph Academy) led the team with 14 digs
9 & 9 – Rueda tallied a team-high nine kills and was second on the team with eight digs
5 & 5 – Thurber earned five kills and had a team-high five total blocks (three solos, two block assists)
24 - Junior setter Olivia Zawadzki (Hilliard/Darby) finished with 24 assists, and added four digs and three kills
UP NEXT
BW returns to play this weekend on Friday, September 16 and Saturday, September 17 as they travel to Olivet (Mich.) College and Albion (Mich.) College for the Albion/Olivet Tournament. The Yellow Jackets will face Olivet on Friday at 4:00 p.m. on Hathaway Court inside the Cutler Event Center. They then will travel to Albion on Saturday to take on Kalamazoo (Mich.) College at 12:00 p.m. and Albion at 4:00 p.m. inside Kresge Gymnasium.
