KAISERSLAUTERN and RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany – Wiesbaden’s Ty Waldron wasn’t trying to win the match when he tipped a ball over the net on the last play of the Warriors’ matchup with Ramstein.

He just didn’t want the Royals to end the match with a block.

The senior right-side hitter/setter saved the block and dinked the ball to give the Warriors a 22-25, 25-21, 25-24 victory over Ramstein in round-robin action during the 2026 DODEA European Division I volleyball championships at Kaiserslautern High School.

“I was worried about we can’t let this drop on our side,’” Waldron said. “It just worked out that they had a bad touch.”

It was part of a big day for the Warriors, who picked up three set victories over the top two seeds. They lost 24-25, 25-20, 25-22 against defending champion Stuttgart.

Wiesbaden sophomore Randall Redeen said those performances are a sign of what the Warriors are capable of accomplishing, as well as giving them a good chance at making Friday evening’s semifinal.

“Being a first-year team and being able to compete with these top-level teams, it shows that we belong here,” Redeen said.

The Warriors were trailing midway through the third and decisive when they managed to turn things around. Part of the motivation was losing libero Khalil Ruso to an elbow injury.

“I think that was a wake-up call for us,” Waldron said of Ruso’s injury. “We needed to get it together. We needed to just rally together to pick each other up.”

Wiesbaden also had an advantage late in the set, as the rules state the first team to 25 points in a set wins with no win-by-two stipulation.

The Warriors opened their tournament with 25-24 victory over Stuttgart. Redeen admitted to being ignorant of the rule. That was not the case against Ramstein.

“In the first one, I still thought it was win by two,” Redeen said. “I’m glad I had that knowledge going into that last one.

“It was pretty nerve-racking. I’m just so glad that we could play through it.”

Wiesbaden ended the day on a sour note, getting swept 25-16, 25-22, 25-18 by SHAPE at Kaiserslautern High School.

The Spartans also took one from the Panthers during a 19-25, 25-13 25-19 loss. Thursday’s results left SHAPE with six wins over nine sets.

“Against Stuttgart, having one set, that’s basically a win for us,” SHAPE setter Jaden Smith said. “Two sets would have been better, but it is what it is.”

At Ramstein High School for the girls tournament, Lakenheath trailed by five and faced set point against Stuttgart when the Lancers rattled six straight to claim a 25-24 victory in the second set. The Panthers won the other two sets 25-23, 25-16.

Lakenheath libero Natalie Cook Munoz had three aces during the six-point stretch. The senior said she wanted to make up for not delivering while serving earlier in the day.

“No matter how far we were down, we definitely pushed and we never ended at a terrible score,” Cook Munoz said.

Kaiserslautern also had a big day, winning six sets. The Raiders made an adjustment from a 6-2 formation to a 5-1, and it worked.

“We came here to have fun, and we did have fun,” Kaiserslautern center Marlee Storch said.