SANDUSKY, Ohio – The Baldwin Wallace University women's volleyball team opened the 2022 fall campaign inside the Cedar Point Sports Center. The Yellow Jackets faced Smith (Mass.) College and No. 10 nationally-ranked Hope (Mich.) College on Day 1 of the Great Lakes Crossover.

BW (0-2) fell to Smith (1-0) by set scores of 25-23, 25-21, and 25-19 and Hope (2-0) by set scores of 25-21, 25-23, and 25-18.

MATCH 1

The Yellow Jackets earned the 10-7 advantage over Smith in set one before the Pioneers went up 14-10, forcing a BW timeout. Smith remained up the rest of the set and claimed the 25-23 set one win.

Set two was tied 15-15 before the Pioneers tallied three points to force a BW timeout. With Smith up 22-17, the Yellow Jackets earned four-straight points to bring the game within one point, but the Pioneers closed out the set, 25-21. Smith earned the early 7-2 set three advantage and stayed up on BW for the remainder of the match, claiming the 25-19 set three and 3-0 match win.

KEY STATS

12 – Sophomore outside hitter Sam Rueda (Aurora, Ill./Metea Valley) led the team with 12 kills and added two service aces and three digs
16 – Sophomore All-OAC libero Lauren Gardner (Avon/Saint Joseph Academy) posted a team-high 16 digs
Freshman outside hitter Gabby Schlecht (Naperville, Ill./North) tallied eight digs and three kills

MATCH 2

BW dropped set one 25-21 before earning the early advantage in set two 8-6 with an ace from Gardner. The Yellow Jackets went up 13-11 on the Flying Dutch, forcing a Hope timeout.

With the score in set two tied 19-19, BW tallied three-straight to go up 22-19, forcing another Flying Dutch timeout. Hope came out of the timeout to outscore BW 6-1 to claim the set win. The Flying Dutch earned the early 12-4 advantage and went on to earn the set (25-18) and match win.

KEY STATS

14 – Rueda led the team with 14 kills and added five digs
16 – Gardner tallied another 16 digs
Sophomore right side hitter Allison Weiner (Westerville/St. Francis DeSales) posted seven kills

UP NEXT

BW is back in action tomorrow, September 3 for day two of the Great Lakes Cross Over. The Yellow Jackets will take on Grove City (Pa.) College at 8:00 a.m. and Hanover (Ind.) College at 12:00 p.m. inside the Cedar Point Sports Center.