BEREA, Ohio – The Baldwin Wallace University women's volleyball team led by second-year head coach Kristina Fultz is ready to tip off the 2023 season.
Coach Fultz returns fifteen letterwinners, two All-Ohio Athletic Conference players, and five Academic All-OAC selections from last season as the Yellow Jackets finished with a 13-11 overall record and a 4-5 record in the OAC. BW was picked to finish seventh this season in the OAC Preseason Poll.
The Yellow Jackets bring back the defending OAC Libero of the Year in senior Lauren Gardner (Avon/Saint Joseph Academy) to lead the defense once again. Gardner was an All-OAC second-team selection last year totaling 451 digs in 22 matches and 77 sets. She averaged 5.86 digs per set in 2022 which placed her second in the OAC and 14th in the nation. Gardner also recorded 73 assists and 25 service aces and was a two-time OAC Defensive Player of the Week honoree last season.
Also returning to the court this year is senior setter Olivia Zawadzki (Hilliard/Darby) who played in all 86 sets for the Yellow Jackets. In 2022, Zawadzki tallied 59 kills, 47 total blocks, 209 digs, and led the team with 38 service aces. She was also the team leader and a conference top-five finisher in both assists with 818 and assists per set with 9.51 earning her an All-OAC second-team selection.
BW also returns its kills leader in junior outside hitter Sam Rueda (Aurora, Ill./Metea Valley) and blocks leader in senior Academic All-OAC middle hitter Isa Luciano (Willoughby/South). Rueda totaled 242 kills and 3.27 kills per set which was the fifth most in the OAC. Luciano recorded 69 total blocks with 16 solo blocks.
A trio of sophomores complete the remaining starters as defensive specialist Paige Contris (Pemberville/Eastwood), outside hitter Gabby Schlecht (Naperville, Ill./North), and middle hitter Maleia Thurber (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral) gear up for their second season.
Other veterans returning for Coach Fultz are senior Academic All-OAC outside hitter Nicole Logan (Hilliard/Darby), junior Academic All-OAC defensive specialist/libero Ashleigh Curtiss (Bolingbrook, Ill.), and junior Academic All-OAC setter Lauren Reid (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan), who missed all of 2022 due to injury.
The Yellow Jackets open the 2023 campaign on September 1 against Bethany (W. Va.) College and Grove City (Pa.) College at the Great Lakes Cross Over Tournament in Sandusky at the Cedar Point Sports Center.
