The Case Western Reserve University volleyball team held off Baldwin Wallace University in five sets on Wednesday night at Horsburgh Gymnasium in Cleveland, defeating the visitors 25-20, 26-24, 28-30, 23-25, 15-13.

The Spartans extended their winning streak to nine matches, improving to 9-0 in 2024. The Yellow Jackets fell to 5-2 on the season.

Three Spartans buried double-digit kills, and seven had at least 10 digs in the match. Senior Rea Marfatia paced the team with 13 kills and added 19 digs, second on the team. Senior Lily Crouch had a career-high 12 kills, 11 digs, and seven total blocks, and junior Amanda Ngo contributed 11 kills and three blocks. Defensively, sophomore Emily Goodpaster had a career-high 22 digs to lead the Spartans. Senior Carly Scott dug out 19 attacks and contributed 37 assists and eight kills, and liberos Sude Naz Item (13 digs) and Sophia Datto (10 digs) also reached double digits in the defensive category. In three sets of action, senior Deme Yianas added 10 digs.

CWRU led for the entire first set, quickly opening a seven-point lead with an 11-4 run to start the match. The Yellow Jackets responded, cutting their deficit to one with a 7-1 run of their own. After the teams split the next four points and traded 2-0 runs, Case Western Reserve claimed seven of the next nine points to open a 23-17 lead. With a Spartan service error and back-to-back attacking errors, BW came within three. However, kills by senior Chloe Maciejewski and Marfatia closed out the set in favor of the hosts.

The teams traded the early advantage in the second set and neither led by more than two points. With the score tied at nine, the Spartans used a 6-1 run to gain a five-point advantage. BW battled, winning the next four points, but a block by Crouch and a bad Yellow Jacket set put CWRU ahead by three. Later the Yellow Jackets used three consecutive points to tie the score at 19. Ngo and Marfatia followed with kills, but the visitors tied the score at 23 with a 4-2 run. After trading points to tie the score at 24, back-to-back Baldwin Wallace attacking errors put Case Western Reserve ahead by two sets.

The third set featured 12 lead changes and 22 tied scores with neither team leading by more than three points throughout the stanza. BW had the three-point lead, using a 5-1 run to take a 21-18 advantage late in the period. The Spartans responded, taking a two-point lead of their own by winning the next five rallies. Maciejewski, Scott, and Ngo all had kills during the late-set run. BW then scored the next three points, and CWRU needed a side out to continue the set. An attacking error from the visitors tied the score at 24, but the Yellow Jackets served with set point again after a Spartan service error. The hosts fended off another set point and took a 27-26 lead on a kill by Maciejewski. A kill from Wall again put CWRU ahead, 28-27, but three consecutive Yellow Jacket points ended the marathon set and extended the match to a fourth set.

Looking to rebound, the Spartans used a 6-0 run early in the fourth period to take a six-point lead. Trailing by four later in the set, the visitors won nine of the next 10 rallies to take a four-point advantage. They would not relinquish the advantage for the rest of the set to push the match the distance, though CWRU came within one, 24-23, on a Marfatia kill.

The Spartans jumped to a 3-1 lead early in the fifth and final set. However, a 6-2 Yellow Jacket run put the visitors up two. Case Western Reserve tied the score at seven, nine, 10, and 11, and eventually reclaimed the lead on a block from Scott and Ngo. BW quickly tied the score at 12 with a kill, but a service error gave the serve back to the Spartans with a one-point lead. A Marfatia kill put the team one point away from clinching the match win. However, the Yellow Jackets reclaimed the serve with a point of their own. After a long rally, Marfatia ended the match with a kill, her 13th of the night, to earn Case Western Reserve a five-set victory.

The Spartans will next head to Delaware, Ohio, for the Bishop Invitational hosted by Ohio Wesleyan University. CWRU will take on Albion on Friday at 4:30 p.m. then face Wisconsin Platteville on Saturday at 1 p.m. followed by host OWU at 3:30 p.m.

Spartan Notes

• The Spartans improved to 11-6 against BW since 2008 with the victory
• CWRU was among other teams receiving votes in the latest AVCA Division III Coaches Top 25 Poll, ranking second in the category with 130 poll points. It was the third consecutive week the team placed in the category, increasing its vote share with every poll.
• The Spartan volleyball team celebrated its Team IMPACT player, Jady, prior to the match. Team IMPACT is an organization that matches children facing serious illness and disability with college sports teams, creating long-term, life-changing relationships for everyone involved. A full video of Jady's press conference can be found here.
• CWRU has won nine consecutive matches to begin the season for the second time in a decade. In 2015, the Spartans began the campaign with 10 wins in a row