Women's Volleyball Opens Heart Play at No. 6 Park

Parkville, Mo., (Sept. 12, 2023)- The Missouri Valley College women's volleyball team traveled to Parkville, Mo., to open play in the Heart of America Athletic Conference against No. 6 Park (Mo.), Tuesday evening.  The Vikings fell by scores of 14-25, 23-25, 16-25.

The first game opened with the teams trading points.  Junior Outside Hitter Jisell Chumacero (Greeley, Colo.) put down the first kill of the game, followed by a block from Junior Middle Blocker Esther Muhingira (Nairobi, Kenya) and Junior Setter Lynsey Day (Kingman, Ariz.) to keep the score tied at 3-3.  Junior Outside Hitter Juliana Oliviera (Ribeirao Preto, Brazil) came back with a kill, while Junior Setter Mencia Rodriguez (Gijon, Spain) added an ace to even the teams at 5-5.  The Vikings won three-straight points, helped by one kill from Junior Outside Hitter Maria Bertholdo (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and an ace from Oliviera to put MVC on top, 8-6.  Park answered back with three-straight points, while another kill from Bertholdo leveled the score at 9-9.  The Pirates answered with a six-point run to hold a 15-9 lead.  Bertholdo and Oliviera each had one kill, but the Vikings trailed, 16-13.  Park pulled away from there, and won nine of the final ten points to win the first game, 25-14.

Game two featured an early lead for Park, as the score sat at 8-2.  Missouri Valley tried to chip away at its deficit, as Oliviera landed two kills, while Bertholdo and Senior Outside Hitter Ksenija Simun (Kotor, Montenegro) each had one kill to put the deficit at 12-7.  Chumacero and Bertholdo finished off one kill each to make it a 15-10 score, but Park eventually worked out to a 20-12 advantage.  The two teams traded points through the first game-point for the Pirates, at 24-17.  The Vikings went on a run, as Oliviera, Day and Bertholdo each had one kill, while Simun landed a pair of aces to bring MVC to within a 24-23 score.  However, Park claimed the next point and finished out a 25-23 win.

Missouri Valley went in front early in the third game, as Bertholdo and Oliviera had two kills, while Oliviera teamed up with Middle Blocker Emma Schulte (Marshall, Mo.) on a block to give the team a 5-3 lead.  The Pirates came back to win three of the next four points and tie the game at 6-6.  Missouri Valley fell into a deficit from there and eventually trailed by a 17-8 score.  Chumacero and Oliviera teamed up on a block, while Bertholdo and Simun each had one kill over a stretch that put the deficit at 21-16.  The Pirates closed out the game from there, winning the final four points to take the game, 25-16, and the match.

Bertholdo led with 11 kills and added six digs.  Day finished with 25 assists and eight digs.  Oliviera led with 11 digs, and came through with seven kills, while Junior Defensive Specialist Momoko Yokoyama (Tokyo, Japan) had 10 digs.  Missouri Valley finished with five aces and three blocks as a team.

Missouri Valley drops to 5-7 overall and 0-1 in the Heart.  Park improves to 7-2 on the season and 1-0 in the conference.

Up next, the Viking women's volleyball team hosts William Penn (Iowa) in a Heart match, Friday at 7 p.m., inside the Burns Athletic Complex.

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About Missouri Valley College

Known for its dynamic, richly diverse, and friendly educational environment, Missouri Valley College offers many opportunities to grow in mind, body, and spirit. Grounded in the liberal arts, undergraduate studies empower students to master interdisciplinary skills needed to succeed in a knowledge-based global society. MVC offers over 30 academic programs, study abroad program, extracurricular activities, and a wide variety of sports. The most popular majors include education and business, criminal justice and exercise science. Above all, Valley is committed to student success. For more information, call (660) 831-4000 or visit www.moval.edu.