Women's Volleyball Sweeps Culver-Stockton on the Road

Canton, Mo., (Oct. 7, 2023)- The Missouri Valley College women's volleyball team traveled to Canton, Mo., for a Heart of America Athletic Conference match with Culver-Stockton (Mo.), Saturday afternoon.  The Vikings swept past the Wildcats with a win by scores of 25-16, 25-12, 25-19.

Game one opened with Missouri Valley building up an advantage.  Junior Middle Blocker Emma Schulte (Marshall, Mo.) put down three kills, while Junior Outside Hitter Juliana Oliviera (Ribeirao Preto, Brazil) added one kill and one ace to put the team in front, 8-1.  The Vikings won five-straight points over another stretch of play, which featured two kills from both Junior Right Side Maria Bertholdo (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Sophomore Middle Blocker Nekane Parera (Barcelona, Spain) and an ace from Senior Libero Jeanie Palsis (Nanakuli, Hawaii) to make it a 13-3 score.  The Vikings gradually added to their lead from there, as Senior Outside Hitter Ksenija Simun (Kotor, Montenegro) added three kills, with one kill from Oliviera and an ace from Bertholdo to stretch the gap out to 18-5.  Oliviera and Bertholdo added one kill each late in the game, and a block from Junior Setter Lynsey Day (Kingman, Ariz.) and Parera ended the first game, 25-16.

The two teams traded points early in the second game, which included one kill and one ace from Bertholdo to help MVC go on top, 5-3.  The Vikings added to their lead over the next several points, as Parera finished off three kills, and both Simun and Schulte had one kill apiece to make it a 10-4 game.  Culver-Stockton got to within an 11-6 deficit, but Missouri Valley began to pull away.  Oliviera started a run with one kill and an ace.  Schulte had one kill and Oliviera put down two more aces as the lead sat at 18-6.  Missouri Valley kept CSC from stringing together a late rally, and Day moved the team to game-point on a kill.  An ace from Parera finished off a 25-12 win for the team to make it a 2-0 lead in games won.  Missouri Valley hit at a .391 percentage and limited CSC to a .000 percentage in the game.

Culver-Stockton went in front at the start of the third game, at a 5-1 score.  Missouri Valley countered with six-straight points, including one kill from Simun and Parera, an ace from Palsis with two blocks from Bertholdo, teaming up with Parera on one of the blocks, to move MVC on top, 7-5.  The Wildcats worked back, and eventually regained the advantage at 11-10.  Day and Bertholdo each added one kill to bring the Vikings ahead, 12-11.  Culver-Stockton followed with five of the next six points to claim a 16-13 advantage.  Missouri Valley still trailed, 18-15, before working back.  Simun opened eight-straight points with a kill, and was followed by one kill from Parera and an ace by Bertholdo.  Parera added one more kill late in the run, and MVC went in front, 23-18.  Parera and Oliviera closed out the game with one more kill apiece, and the Vikings swept with a 25-19 win.

Parera totaled nine kills on a .583 percentage, and Simun added nine kills on a .364 percentage.  Bertholdo and Oliviera each had six kills.  Palsis led with 15 digs and Day had 29 assists and eight digs.  Missouri Valley ended the game with 10 aces and four blocks as a team.

Missouri Valley improves to 12-11 overall and 4-5 in the Heart.  Culver-Stockton drops to 3-18 on the season and 0-11 in the conference.

Up next, the Viking women's volleyball team travel to Atchison, Kan., Tuesday, for a Heart match with Benedictine (Kan.) starting at 7 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.