OLIVET, Mich. – The Baldwin Wallace University women's volleyball team faced Olivet (Mich.) College on day one of the Albion/Olivet Invitational on Hathaway Court inside the Cutler Event Center. The Yellow Jackets (7-3) beat the Comets (2-6) in four sets by scores of 25-13, 25-10, 16-25, and 25-16. 

SUMMARY

Olivet struck first, but after being tied 4-4 with the Comets, the Yellow Jackets went on a 6-0 run to force the home team to its first timeout. Sophomore defensive specialist Ashleigh Curtiss (Bolingbrook, Ill.) helped BW go up 14-4 as she tallied four service aces. The Comets took their second timeout after BW took a 20-7 lead, and BW went on to claim the first set, 25-13. The Yellow Jackets hit .542 as a team in set one and Curtiss totaled five aces.

An ace in set two by sophomore All-OAC libero Lauren Gardner (Avon/Saint Joseph Academy) earned BW the 13-6 lead over the Comets to force them to their first timeout. Another ace, this time by sophomore outside hitter Sam Rueda (Aurora, Ill./Metea Valley), put the Yellow Jackets up 19-8, forcing OC to its second timeout. A kill by sophomore outside hitter Sydney Simonson (Sullivan/Black River) closed out the second set (25-10).

BW fell behind in set three 10-4 and took its first timeout. After being down 15-6, a kill by sophomore right side hitter Allison Weiner (Westerville/St. Francis DeSales) and back-to-back aces by freshman defensive specialist Paige Contris (Pemberville/Eastwood) earned BW some momentum. The Yellow Jackets brought the score back within four points, before the Comets went up six (17-11) and forced BW to its second timeout. The Comets went on to win set three 25-16. 

Set four was a lot of back-and-forth play as each team took a timeout early. The Comets earned a 14-10 advantage before the Yellow Jackets went on a 9-1 run to go up 19-15 and force Olivet to its second and final timeout. Out of the break, BW kept applying the pressure with four straight points (23-15) and closed the set, 25-16, winning the match. 

KEY STATS

11 - Freshman middle hitter Maleia Thurber (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral) led the way with 11 kills and no errors for the Yellow Jackets, hitting .611
19  – Sophomore All-OAC libero Lauren Gardner (Avon/Saint Joseph Academy) earned a team-high 19 digs
41 – Junior setter Olivia Zawadzki (Hilliard/Darby) totaled 41 assists
Schlecht finished with 11 kills, seven digs, and four aces while Rueda tallied 10 kills and eight digs
Curtiss posted seven aces and Contris posted four

UP NEXT

The Yellow Jackets are back in action tomorrow as they travel to Albion (Mich.) College to take on Kalamazoo (Mich.) College at 12:00 p.m. and Albion at 4:00 p.m. inside Kresge Gymnasium for day two of the Albion/Olivet Invitational.