The Baldwin Wallace University volleyball team has not slowed down since their performance in the Golden Eagle Tournament at Brockport University.  The Yellow Jackets have put together a series of seven straight victories as they are turning the corner and getting ready for their Ohio Athletic Conference schedule.

BW was back on the road at the Golden Flyer Invitational in New York. The Yellow Jackets were matched up against Nazareth College (N.Y.), Keuka College (N.Y.), St. John Fisher College (N.Y.), and Medaille College (N.Y.), winning all four matches, three coming in straight sets.

To recap this tournament, BW squared off with the host Nazareth. Sophomore Taylor Brown accounted for ten of 38 kills in the first set. Freshman Mary Zurbrugg finished it off with a kill, and the Yellow Jackets were quickly up 1-0.

Nazareth played the Yellow Jackets tough, taking it all the way to the final point in the second set.  Their efforts were just short as sophomore Kathleen Egan gave Baldwin Wallace a one-point lead, which was followed by both a service and attack error by the Golden Flyers to finish the set.

In the final set, sophomore Sarah Reinhard and seniors Alicia Lortcher and Ashley Nuding all contributed over 10 digs.  Freshman Morgan Martin put the finishing touches on the match with a five-point streak from service, and BW had their first win of the weekend.

BW’s next matchup was against Keuka. The Yellow Jackets took this match in three straight sets, and leading the way was Nuding with 24 assists distributed to several of her teammates in the first set.

The second set, Baldwin Wallace jumped out to an early lead and did not look back.  The Yellow Jackets registered 19 kills, which is the most they have had in a set. Sophomore Jessica Whitehead lead the defense with 15 of the team’s 42 digs.

The energy built up from the first two sets laid the foundation for the final set as BW put Keuka away with the score of 25-9 to finish off Friday evening.

The next day, Baldwin Wallace was set to take on St. John Fisher, who was the only team to win a set versus the Yellow Jackets in the tournament.  In the first set, Lortcher led the team with 15 kills.  As both teams competed back and forth, sophomore Alexis Garret tied the score at 23, but the Yellow Jackets fell just short in the first set.

BW stepped up in the second set as two players contributed with double digit digs.  Reinhard registered 19 and freshman Ivy Earl recorded 14.

In the third set, Baldwin Wallace started hot with a seven-point streak from Martin’s service.  This early lead carried the tone into the fourth set as BW took care of both and ended the weekend with an overall record of 4-0.

Next, the Yellow Jackets returned to their home court and knocked off Penn St. –Behrend (Pa.), and Case Western Reserve University in the Marcia French match. BW picked up other victories against tough opponents such as Franklin University, Manchester University, and Thiel College (Pa.)  to keep their winning streak alive.

Baldwin Wallace will play their first Ohio Athletic Conference game on Friday, September 28 versus Capital.