BEREA, Ohio — Less than 24 hours after pushing defending conference champion Mount Union to five sets, Wabash returned to the floor Sunday and delivered a signature road victory, rallying past No. 12 Baldwin Wallace in five sets to secure the first win in program history against the Yellow Jackets and move into a tie for second place in the Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League standings.
 
The Little Giants prevailed 20-25, 25-23, 25-22, 16-25, 15-10 at Ursprung Gymnasium to improve to 5-5 overall and 3-1 in MCVL play, while Baldwin Wallace — tied for 12th in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association poll and tied with Calvin for first place in the league entering the match — dropped to 13-5 overall and 2-1 in conference action .
 
Wabash totaled 48 kills and hit .252 as a team, adding 13 service aces and seven total blocks in a match that featured 28 tie scores and eight lead changes. Baldwin Wallace finished with 62 kills and a .353 attack percentage overall but was held to a .227 mark in the decisive fifth set.
 
Bawibawi Thang led the Little Giants with 15 kills on a .440 hitting percentage, adding two service aces, 10 digs, and four block assists for a team-high 20 points. Shad Wilson contributed 14 kills and 15 points, while Jaden Greenwell added nine kills at a .500 clip with two aces. Setter Matthew Stitle directed the offense with 39 assists and three service aces.
 
Baldwin Wallace controlled the opening set late. With the score tied at 15-15, the Yellow Jackets used a 7-1 surge to build separation, getting kills from Daniel Latham and Tyler Schunk to pull ahead for a 25-20 win.
 
Wabash responded in the second set with its most efficient offensive stretch of the afternoon, hitting .321. After 22-22, the Little Giants closed on a 3-1 run. A kill from Stitle and a service ace by Christopher Board created set point before Wilson delivered the finishing swing for a 25-23 victory.
 
The third set featured 10 tie scores as neither team led by more than three points. Trailing 20-18, Wabash mounted a 5-1 run. A Stitle service ace and a Thang block shifted momentum before Gabriel Brandenburg put away the set-clinching kill to secure a 25-22 win and a 2-1 match lead.
 
Baldwin Wallace answered emphatically in the fourth set, committing just one attack error and hitting .667 in the frame. The Yellow Jackets broke a 3-3 tie with a decisive 6-0 run and extended the margin to 19-9 en route to a 25-16 decision to force a fifth set.
 
In the race to 15, Wabash delivered its most composed stretch of the weekend road trip. After the teams were tied at 6-6, the Little Giants scored four of the next five points, highlighted by a Board service ace and a Wilson kill, to take a 10-7 lead. Wabash hit .438 in the final set and sided out at a 90 percent rate (9-of-10), limiting Baldwin Wallace to nine kills with four errors in the frame. An attack error by the Yellow Jackets on match point sealed the 15-10 victory.
 
In the updated league standings, Calvin sits atop the conference at 4-0, followed by Wabash at 3-1. Baldwin Wallace, Trine and Mount Union are each 2-1, while Wittenberg stands at 1-1.
 
Wabash returns to action March 7 against Wentworth Institute of Technology to open the Little Giants' spring break trip in California.