Women's Volleyball Sweeps Past Graceland on the Road

Lamoni, Iowa., (Oct. 14, 2023)- The Missouri Valley College women's volleyball team traveled to both Lamoni, Iowa, Friday, and Peru, Neb., Saturday for Heart of America Athletic Conference matches against Graceland (Iowa) and Peru State (Neb.).  The Vikings swept the Yellowjackets, then won a five-game match against the Bobcats.

In the first game against Graceland, the two teams traded points through a 5-5 score.  Missouri Valley pulled in front on two kills from Sophomore Nekane Parera (Barcelona, Spain) and one kill from Junior Outside Hitter Juliana Oliviera (Ribeiro Preto, Brazil).  One more kill from Parera and a kill from Junior Middle Blocker Emma Schulte (Marshall, Mo.) helped cap a run of winning six of seven points to push the lead out to 11-6.  The Vikings gradually added to their lead from there, as Schulte put down a solo block, then teamed up with Junior Right Side Maria Bertholdo (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) on a block.  Oliviera added one more kill to make it a 15-7 score.  Senior Outside hitter Ksenija Simun (Kotor, Montenegro) landed two-straight kills, then added an ace.  Junior Setter Lynsey Day (Kingman, Ariz.) and Oliviera finished off one block as Missouri Valley won four of five points late in the game to hold a 21-12 lead.  Graceland answered with four-straight points, then won another three-in-a-row to trim the deficit down to 23-19.  The Vikings ended the game there, as Bertholdo landed one final kill to help finish a 25-19 win.

The Vikings got in front early in the second game, as Simun landed the first kill, followed by two kills from Bertholdo.  Simun, Schulte and Oliviera added on kill apiece over the next stretch, and Day landed an ace to help make it an 11-5 advantage.  Missouri Valley won four-straight points later in the game, as Berholdo and Parera each had one kill, to stretch the advantage to 16-8.  The teams traded points through a 22-13 score, as Bertholdo had one ace, and both Parera and Oliviera added one kill.  Graceland responded and won seven of the next eight points to work back to a 23-20 gap.  However, Parera got MVC to a 25-21 win in the game to move the team ahead 2-0 in games won.

Game three started with the two teams trading points through nearly the entire stretch of play.  Neither team could build a more than one-point advantage until late, when a block from Schulte gave the Vikings an 18-16 lead.  Schulte then came down with one kill, and two GU errors increased the advantage to 21-18.  Missouri Valley reached match-point for the first time at 24-22 after a block from Simun and Day.  The Yellowjackets worked back to tie the score at 24-24, then again at 25-25.  Schulte had one more kill and Oliviera gave Missouri Valley the win, 27-25, on a kill to end the contest in a sweep.

Oliviera led with a double-double of 11 kills and 15 digs.  Simun had nine kills and eight digs, while Parera ended with eight kills.  Day led with 32 assists to go with nine digs, and Senior Defensive Specialist Jeanie Palsis (Nanakuli, Hawaii) led with 19 digs.  Missouri Valley finished with eight blocks and four aces as a team.

The pair of wins move Missouri Valley to 14-12 overall and 6-6 in the Heart.

Up next, the Viking women's volleyball team will travel to Fayette, Mo., for a Tuesday Heart match against No. 19 Central Methodist (Mo.), at 7 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.