2/22/26
ALLIANCE, Ohio — Buffalo State men’s volleyball had a simple agenda for the weekend: travel to Ohio, play four matches, win four matches, go home. Agenda completed. The Bengals knocked off No. 14 Baldwin Wallace University 3-1 and host Mount Union 3-1 on Saturday to push their winning streak to six and their overall record to 16-2 (3-0 AMCC).
The Bengals had already dispatched two opponents the night before at the Thiel Tri-Match, meaning they arrived Saturday having already done a full day’s work. Apparently, nobody told their legs.
Game One: Buffalo State 3, No. 14 Baldwin Wallace 1 (25-22, 12-25, 28-26, 25-17)
There is a particular kind of confidence required to walk into a ranked opponent’s tri-match on the second day of a road trip and take the first set. Buffalo State had it. The Bengals jumped out early in set one, weathered a wave of point trading, and closed out the Yellow Jackets 25-22 before Baldwin Wallace had time to fully process what was happening.
The Yellow Jackets processed it in the second set. A seven-point opening run made their feelings on the matter very clear, and a five-point run late sealed a 25-12 set win that served as a firm editorial response to the first set.
From there, Buffalo State remembered who they were. The third set was a 28-26 grind that saw the two sides locked at 17-17 before the Bengals found back-to-back points at the right moment. In the fourth, a five-point Buffalo State run answered a Baldwin Wallace four-point run, and the Bengals followed it with two more four-point runs to shut the door on the No. 10 team in the country.
Gavin Wilczewski led all players with 12 kills. Kaden Strong and Brady Bowman each finished with 10. Drew Bowman handed out 41 assists, which is the kind of number that makes setters in the building quietly recalibrate their own stats. Wilczewski and Xzavier Vanderstouw each recorded nine digs, and Strong added two total blocks.
Baldwin Wallace (12-3, 1-0 MCVL) was not without weapons. Tyler Schunk posted 16 kills and three blocks, and Ethan Gundrum finished with 40 assists. The Yellow Jackets hit .308 as a team. On most nights, that is enough. Saturday was not most nights.
Team Stats: Buffalo State hit .330 on 50 kills in 103 attempts with 6 aces and 4 blocks. Baldwin Wallace hit .308 on 49 kills in 104 attempts with 8 aces and 8 blocks.
Game Two: Buffalo State 3, Mount Union 1 (25-19, 25-21, 22-25, 25-20)
Mount Union entered as hosts and as a team sitting at 6-11 on the season, which is a tough combination of circumstances when the opponent just finished beating a top-ten program an hour earlier and has not yet cooled down.
The Bengals took sets one and two with five-point runs doing the heavy lifting in each, and suddenly the Purple Raiders were staring down a sweep on their own floor. To their credit, Mount Union had thoughts about that. Back-to-back Buffalo State errors in the third set handed the Raiders the set win and gave them something to celebrate.
The celebration was short-lived. In the fourth, the Bengals won the race to ten and did not look back, stringing together a three-point run and a five-point run before closing on another three-point run to finish the match and cap a six-win streak.
Wilczewski capped a dominant weekend with another 12 kills. Drew Bowman added 36 more assists to his weekend total, which at this point borders on a public service. Vanderstouw was a wrecking ball in the back row with 15 digs, and Kieran Eagan contributed eight total blocks at the net, which is the kind of stat line that makes opposing hitters file grievances.
Mount Union’s Michael Bowler led all players with 14 kills. Peyton Koszelak matched Vanderstouw with 15 digs, and Justin Dickson finished with four blocks.
Up Next
The Bengals return home to the Sports Arena, where they will host Hilbert College on Wednesday, February 25 at 7:00 p.m. to open a stretch of AMCC play. Six straight wins, 16-2 on the season, and a bus ride back to Buffalo. Not a bad weekend’s work.