BLUFFTON, Ohio  – The Baldwin Wallace University women's volleyball team competed in the two-day Bluffton Spiketacular, defeating Bethany (W.Va.) College on day one and Bluffton University and University of Pittsburgh (Pa.) at Bradford on day two. 

BW (6-2) topped

• Bethany (1-4) in four sets by set scores of 25-27, 25-19, 25-11, and 29-27
• Bluffton (5-2) in four set by set scores of 25-20, 26-28, 25-20, and 25-13
• Pitt.-Bradford (1-6) in three sets to secure the Yellow Jackets' sixth consecutive win by set scores of 25-22, 25-13, and 25-23 

Going undefeated in the tournament, the Yellow Jackets are named Spiketacular Champions. BW's sophomore All-OAC libero Lauren Gardner (Avon/Saint Joseph Academy) is named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Freshman middle hitter Maleia Thurber (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral) also lands on the All-Tournament Team.

MATCH 1 KEY STATS

15 & 15 - Sophomore outside hitter Sam Rueda (Aurora, Ill./Metea Valley) led the team in kills and added 15 digs
35 - Gardner led the team in digs, totaling 35 and posted three assists
44 & 10 - Junior setter Olivia Zawadzki (Hilliard/Darby) notched a double-double with 44 assists and 10 digs, and added three kills

MATCH 2 KEY STATS

16 & 11 – Rueda led the team with 16 kills and added 11 digs and four service aces
38, 8, and 7 – Zawadzki finished with 38 assists, eight digs, and seven service aces
19 – Gardner totaled 19 digs and posted seven assists and four service aces
Thurber and Senior Academic All-OAC middle hitter Isa Luciano (Willoughby/South) each totaled five blocks each while Thurber added nine kills (.350)

• The Yellow Jackets totaled 21 service aces as a team
• BW finished with 18 total blocks to Bluffton's five

MATCH 3 KEY STATS

11 (.455) - Sophomore right side hitter Allison Weiner (Westerville/St. Francis DeSales) led the team with 11 kills and hit .455, while adding four digs
33 – Gardner finished with 33 digs and four assists, averaging 7.9 digs per set over the weekend
9 (.389) – Thurber was second in kills with nine, hitting .389, and added three blocks
39 & 7 – Zawadzki finished with 39 assists and seven digs
14 & 9 - Freshman outside hitter Gabby Schlecht (Naperville, Ill./North) tallied 14 digs and nine kills

UP NEXT

The Yellow Jackets are back in action Wednesday, September 14 as they travel crosstown to face Case Western Reserve University in another non-conference showdown. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m. in Horsburgh Gymnasium inside the Veale Center.