Women's Volleyball Falls at Home to Mount Mercy

Marshall, Mo., (Sept. 22, 2023)- The Missouri Valley College women's volleyball team hosted Mount Mercy (Iowa) in a Heart of America Athletic Conference match Friday evening inside the Burns Athletic Complex.  The Vikings fell in three games, 21-25, 13-25, 18-25.

Game one started with Missouri Valley going in front after a pair of kills from Senior Outside Hitter Ksenija Simun (Kotor, Montenegro) made it a 3-0 score.  Mount Mercy bounced back to take the next three points, while one kill from both Junior Outside Hitter Jisell Chumacero (Greeley, Colo.) and Junior Outside Hitter Juliana Oliviera (Ribeirao Preto, Brazil) put the Vikings on top, 5-3.  The two teams traded points over the next stretch, which included three kills from Oliviera to help keep MVC ahead, 8-7.  The Mustangs responded with a run of six-straight points to take their first lead of the match, out to 13-8.  Sophomore Middle Blocker Nekane Parera (Barcelona, Spain) ended the drought with a kill, but MMU held a 15-9 advantage.  Missouri Valley tried to work down its deficit, with Simun putting down a kill, followed by an ace from Senior Defensive Specialist Momoko Yokoyama (Tokyo, Japan).  Junior Right Side Maria Bertholdo (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Oliviera landed one kill each, and Simun finished off another ace to cut the gap to 19-16.  Another two kills from Oliviera brought the team to within a 22-20 score, but Mount Mercy closed out the opening game, 25-21.

The second game featured the Mustangs building up an early 4-1 lead.  Oliviera finished off one kill, and Simun put down an ace to bring MVC into a 7-5 deficit.  Mount Mercy began to build up its advantage from there, which sat at 14-8.  Simun and Chumacero each followed with one kill, and the Vikings trailed, 15-10.  The Mustangs answered back, and won five of the next six points to put the score at 20-11.  Missouri Valley was unable work back into the game, and MMU eventually earned a 25-13 win to pull ahead 2-0 in games won.

Missouri Valley went on top at the start of the third game, helped by an ace from Junior Setter Lynsey Day (Kingman, Ariz.) and a kill from Simun to make it a 2-0 score.  Mount Mercy responded with a run that included winning eight of the next nine points to move ahead, 8-3.  Oliviera had the next kill for MVC, but the deficit sat at 9-5.  The Mustangs continued to increase their lead out to double-digits, 17-7.  Chumacero and Simun finished off one kill each, and Day added an ace to put the score at 17-10.  The Vikings went on a late run, taking six of seven points over a stretch of play.  Simun, Chumacero and Day each had one kill during the run, as the team trailed, 23-17.  Mount Mercy finished out the game, 25-18, for the sweep.

Oliviera led with 11 kills to go with four digs.  Simun had 10 kills and nine digs.  Day finished with a double-double of 26 assists and 12 digs, along with two aces.  Missouri Valley totaled five aces as a team.

Missouri Valley drops to 6-10 overall and 1-4 in the Heart.  Mount Mercy improves to 11-4 on the season and 4-1 in the conference.

Up next, the Viking women's volleyball team hosts a triangular Saturday inside the Burns Athletic Complex.  The first game against Clarke (Iowa) starts at 4 p.m., with the match against College of the Ozarks (Mo.) starting at 8 p.m.

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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.