Women's Volleyball Sweeps Past Baker at Home

Marshall, Mo., (Oct. 3, 2023)- The Missouri Valley College women's volleyball team hosted Baker (Kan.) inside the Burns Athletic Complex Tuesday evening in a Heart of America Athletic Conference match.  The Vikings swept past the Wildcats by scores of 25-18, 25-12, 25-16.

Game one started with Baker going on top early by a 3-1 score.  Missouri Valley answered back with a six-point run that included one kill from both Junior Outside Hitter Maria Bertholdo (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Senior Outside Hitter Ksenija Simun (Kotor, Montenegro), along with one ace from Senior Libero Jeanie Palsis (Nanakuli, Hawaii) to hold a 7-3 lead.  The Wildcats worked back into the game, to a 10-10 tie.  Missouri Valley broke the deadlock on a block and kill from Junior Middle Blocker Emma Schulte (Marshall, Mo.).  The Vikings maintained the advantage from there, trading points over the next stretch of play.  Baker got to within a 19-18 deficit, but Junior Outside Hitter Juliana Oliviera (Ribeiro Preto, Brazil) landed one kill to open a run of six-straight points.  Simun put the team to game-point, and Schulte finished off one final kill to win the game, 25-18.

Missouri Valley took control of the second game early, winning the first three points, on one kill each from Schulte, Simun and Bertholdo, then followed with a pair of Bertholdo kills, who then teamed up on a block with Sophomore Middle Blocker Nekane Parera (Barcelona, Spain) to keep the team in front, 6-2.  The Vikings followed later in the game with winning seven-straight points to hold a double-digit advantage.  Parera finished off two kills and a block, while Simun and Junior Setter Lynsey Day (Kingman, Ariz.) each had one kill to make it a 15-5 score.  Baker was unable to rally back into the game, and MVC won the final five points.  Simun had one kill, Palsis added an ace and Simun finished off a 25-12 with a block to give Missouri Valley a 2-0 advantage in the match.  Missouri Valley hit at a match-high .440 in the game, and held Baker to a -.040 percentage.

The two teams traded points at the start of the third game, as BU went in front, 7-6.  The next five points went to the Vikings, with two aces from Parera and one kill from Oliviera to make it an 11-7 score.  Another five-point run for MVC included one kill from both Schulte and Simun to stretch the lead out to 17-9.  Missouri Valley eventually led 19-10, but the Wildcats worked down the deficit.  Baker won six of the next seven points to close the gap to 20-16.  The Vikings responded and used two kills from Parera, an ace from Junior Defensive Specialist Momoko Yokoyama (Tokyo, Japan) and a block from Oliviera to finish out a 25-16 win in the game, sweeping the match.

Simun led with 10 kills to go with five digs.  Parera had eight kills and a .357 hitting percentage, and Bertholdo added seven kills on a .353 percentage.  Day totaled 22 assists and eight digs, while Palsis had nine digs and five aces, both team-highs.  Missouri Valley limited Baker to a .012 hitting percentage, and totaled seven aces and six blocks as a team.

The won moves Missouri Valley to 11-11 on the season and 3-5 in the Heart, while Baker falls to 6-11 overall and 1-6 in the conference.

Up next, the Viking women's volleyball team travels to Canton, Mo., for a Saturday Heart match against Culver-Stockton at 1 p.m.

Box Score-Click Here 

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.