UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio - The Baldwin Wallace University women's volleyball team faced crosstown rival John Carroll University on Mike Moran Court inside the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center. The Yellow Jackets (11-8, 2-2 OAC) beat the Blue Streaks (15-6, 2-2 OAC) in four sets by scores of 20-25, 25-20, 25-17, and 25-19.

SUMMARY

After being down 3-1, six unanswered points by the Yellow Jackets put BW up 7-3 to start set one. The Yellow Jackets kept the lead and forced JCU to its first timeout at 12-8. The Blue Streaks came out of the break and outscored BW 11-3, forcing the away team to exhaust both its timeouts. Back-to-back aces by sophomore defensive specialist Ashleigh Curtiss (Bolingbrook, Ill.) closed the gap to one point and a kill by senior Academic All-OAC middle hitter Isa Luciano (Willoughby/South) tied the set back up at 19-19. JCU topped BW 6-1 to close the first set, 25-20.

After being down 8-3 to start set two, the Yellow Jackets battled back to earn a 14-11 advantage and force a JCU timeout. Four-straight points by the Yellow Jackets forced another Blue Streak timeout, BW leading 18-12. John Carroll closed the gap to two points, but the Yellow Jackets beat out the Blue Streaks 5-2 to take set two, 25-20.

A big block on the right pin by junior setter Olivia Zawadzki (Hilliard/Darby) earned BW its first lead of the third set (8-7). After a couple big blocks by sophomore outside hitter Sydney Simonson (Sullivan/Black River) and Luciano and an error by the home team, BW earned a 12-7 advantage, forcing a Blue Streak timeout. Keeping the momentum, two aces by sophomore All-OAC libero Lauren Gardner (Avon/Saint Joseph Academy) and an error by the Blue Streaks earned BW the 25-17 third set win to put the Yellow Jackets up 2-1 in the match.

An ace by Curtiss earned BW its first lead of the fourth at 8-7. JCU took its first timeout of the game after trailing 14-11 to the Yellow Jackets. The home team took another timeout after a block by Nicole Logan, BW leading 20-14. A big kill by sophomore outside hitter Sam Rueda (Aurora, Ill./Metea Valley) closed out set four 25-19 and the Yellow Jackets took the match over crosstown rival, 3-1.

KEY STATS

12 – Freshman middle hitter Maleia Thurber (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral) led BW with 12 kills and added two blocks
.500 – Luciano was second on the team with 10 kills, hitting .500, and finished with four blocks
41 – Zawadzki finished the match with 41 assists and nine digs
21 – Gardner totaled 21 digs and added five assists and two aces
7 & 12 – Curtiss tied her career-high of seven services aces and totaled 12 digs

UP NEXT

The Yellow Jackets return to the court this Saturday, October 15 when they travel to New Concord to take on the Muskingum University Fighting Muskies in another OAC matchup. First serve is set for 1:00 p.m. on Performance Court inside the Anne C. Steele Center.