Women's Volleyball Tops Baker on the Road in Four Games

Baldwin City, Kan., (Oct. 24, 2023)- The Missouri Valley College women's volleyball team played a Heart of America Athletic Conference match Tuesday evening in Baldwin City, Kan., against Baker (Kan.).  The Vikings finished out four-game win by scores of 25-15, 25-21, 26-28, 25-20.

Game one started with Baker winning the first three points, followed by two kills from Senior Outside Hitter Ksenija Simun (Kotor, Montenegro) and one kill from Junior Outside Hitter Juliana Oliviera (Ribeirao Preto, Brazil) to tie the teams at 3-3.  The Wildcats answered back with three-straight points again, and maintained an advantage over the next stretch of play.  Back-to-back kills from Simun and Oliviera tied the score once again, at 10-10, but BU stayed in front at 14-11.  The Vikings answered back, and went on an 11-point run to take control.  Simun totaled five kills in the run, while Senior Libero Jeanie Palsis (Nanakuli, Hawaii) landed three aces.  Junior Middle Blocker Emma Schulte (Marshall, Mo.) and Sophomore Middle Blocker Nekane Parera (Barcelona, Spain) each added one kill to help bring MVC into a 22-14 lead.  Parera finished off two more kills and Sophomore Setter Ana Carolina Santos (Curitiba, Brazil) added an ace to help end game one, 25-15.

The two teams traded points at the start of the second game.  Simun had two kills and one ace, Parera totaled two kills, and both Oliviera and Junior Setter Lynsey Day (Kingman, Ariz.) each had one kill to help make it a 9-9 score.  The two teams continued to play even with an Oliviera ace making it a 15-15 tie.  The Vikings began to pull away, helped by two kills from Simun and another Oliviera ace, while one kill from Junior Middle Blocker Brook Wright (Mansfield, Ark.) put the team on top, 19-15.  Baker answered back, and cut the deficit down to 21-20.  Parera then put down one kill and teamed up with Oliviera on a block.  A Wildcat error moved MVC to game-point, and Oliviera finished out the second game with one more kill to make it a 25-21 score, and move Missouri Valley to within one more game of the win.

Baker went out in front in the third game at the start, holding an 8-2 advantage.  Parera and Simun came through with one kill each to cut the deficit down to 8-5.  The Wildcats eventually went on top, 14-10, but MVC came back with a run.  Parera had one kill, and teamed up with Schulte on a block, while Simun added one more kill as the team won six of seven points during the stretch to move ahead, 16-15.  Another kill from Parera made it an 18-16 advantage, and the two teams traded points until late in the game.  Baker worked back to reclaim the lead, and hold game-point for the first time, at 24-22.  Wright answered with a kill, followed by two kills from Simun to give Missouri Valley match-point, 25-24.  Another Parera kill put the team at game-point again, 26-25, but Baker won the final three points to win the game, 28-26, and extend the match.

The fourth game featured the teams trading points at the start, as Oliviera, Wright, Simun and Parera each had one kill to keep the score tied at 6-6.  Parera added one kill and one bloc, with an ace from Simun to help put MVC in front, 9-7.  One kill each from Parera, Oliviera and Schulte pushed the advantage out to 13-9.  The lead continued to grow with one more kill from Schulte and Simun making it a 16-11 score.  Baker chipped away at its deficit, and won five of the next six points to trail, 17-16.  Parera added two more kills, along with one kill from Oliviera to keep the Vikings in front, 20-17.  The next three Missouri Valley points came on BU errors, with an ace from Oliviera pushing the team to match-point.  Simun landed one final kill, and the Vikings earned a 25-20 win to claim the match.

Simun led with a career-high 22 kills and eight digs, while Parera added a career-high 16 kills on a .429 hitting percentage.  Oliviera added a double-double of 12 kills and 18 digs.  Day finished with a career-high 56 assists and seven digs.  Palsis had a season-high 33 digs, while Junior Defensive Specialist Momoko Yokoyama (Tokyo, Japan) totaled 13 digs.  Missouri Valley had four blocks and nine aces.

Missouri Valley improves to 15-14 overall and 7-8 in the Heart.  Baker drops to 9-16 on the season and 4-11 in the conference.  Missouri Valley won the first match against Baker, at home, back on Oct. 3, by scores of 25-18, 25-12, 25-16.

Up next, the Viking women's volleyball team will host No. 8 Park (Mo.) 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.