ALLIANCE, Ohio – The Mount Union women's volleyball team (5-11, 5-11 OAC) dropped a pair against the Yellow Jackets of Baldwin Wallace (11-5, 11-5 OAC) in an Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader at Timken Gymnasium Tuesday evening. 

Match One 

The Purple Raiders were led by junior Maria Ellesin (Alliance / Marlington) who tallied up nine kills and five digs as well as senior Madelin DiBease (Perry / Perry) who collected seven kills along with 13 digs. Sophomore Mollie Thomas (Massillon / Massillon Perry) dished out 15 assists, and sophomore libero Alyssa Kasaris (North Royalton / North Royalton) led the team defensively with her 22 digs. 

The Yellow Jackets got going first, but the Raiders charged back to stay tight from an ace by freshman Brynne Limes (Weston / Ostego) to give the Raiders the 7-6 lead. Baldwin Wallace began to chip away but a kill by Ellesin broke up the Yellow Jacket offense for the Raiders to trail 21-18. The Yellow Jackets went on a 4-3 run to claim the set 25-20. Baldwin Wallace kept the energy and started the second match on a 4-1 run. A kill by freshman Julia Kerns (Eastlake / Eastlake North) got the Raiders back into action at 10-4. A 4-1 run by the Raiders had them chipping away at the Yellow Jacket lead 21-13, but Baldwin Wallace found their remaining three points to secure the second set 25-18. DiBease brought the Raiders their first two points of the third set off a kill followed by a service ace to tie it up at 2-2. A 5-0 run by the Yellow Jackets forced a timeout for the Raiders to regroup. A kill by DiBease at 17-8 gave the Raiders a spark to chip away at the Yellow Jacket lead taking advantage of Baldwin Wallace errors. A huge block by  Kerns and sophomore Isabella Sprunger (North Royalton / North Royalton) got the Raiders within four to make the score 23-19. The Raiders would go on to drop in the third set 25-19. 

Match Two 

The Raiders were led by Sprunger who tallied up nine kills on the match. Thomas continued dishing out assists as she tallied up 13 on the match. Defensively, DiBease and Kasaris led the way as they collected 14 and 18 digs respectively.  

Raiders came off the break dominating as DiBease got the team going off a kill. The Raiders continued to dominate the set as they didn't trail until Baldwin Wallace found a 4-0 run late in the set to go up 23-22. Sprunger would capture a kill, but Mount Union came up short as the Yellow Jackets took the set 26-24. Baldwin Wallace went on a 6-1 run to start the second set. The Raiders would chip away and rallied to knot it up at 12-12 off an error by Baldwin Wallace. The Yellow Jackets went on a strong run throughout the remainder of the set as secured the2 5-14 win. Mount Union couldn't break down the Yellow Jacket offense in the third set. A short 5-1 run by the Purple Raiders brought them within three at 13-10. Again the Raiders sparked a 6-0 rally late to force a Baldwin Wallace timeout. The Raiders would eventually drop in set three 25-23. 

Mount Union will wrap up their 2021 OAC regular season as they host Ohio Northern for senior day on Friday evening with matches set to begin at 6 and 8 pm.