Women's Volleyball Falls to Benedictine in Regular Season Finale

Marshall, Mo., (Oct. 31, 2023)- The Missouri Valley College women's volleyball team hosted Benedictine (Kan.) on Halloween night in a Heart of America Athletic Conference match to finish the regular season.  The Vikings extended the match into a fourth game, but fell by scores of 20-25, 20-25, 25-20, 25-12.

The match started with both teams trading points early in the first game.  Junior Outside Hitter Beatriz Bartolome (Madrid, Spain) put down the first kill for MVC, followed by two kills from Senior Outside Hitter Ksenija Simun (Kotor, Montenegro) and two kills from Junior Middle Blocker Emma Schulte (Marshall, Mo.) to help make it a 6-6 score.  Benedictine followed with five-straight points to pull ahead, 11-6.  The Ravens maintained their advantage through the next stretch of play, as Sophomore Middle Blocker Nekane Parera (Barcelona, Spain) finished off two kills, and Senior Outside Hitter Naomi Wiersma (Workum, The Netherlands) added one kill to keep MVC in a 15-11 deficit.  Benedictine then won four-straight points to hold a 19-11 advantage.  The Vikings tried to chip away at the gap late in the game, helped by one kill from Simun, Parera and Junior Setter Lynsey Day (Kingman, Ariz.) to put the score at 21-16.  Parera added one late kill and a block from Bartolome, but BC finished out a 25-20 win in the opening game.

Game two started with the Ravens building up a 9-3 advantage.  The score sat at 12-4 before Missouri Valley worked down its deficit.  Schulte started a stretch of play with a kill, followed by a block from Parera and Junior Outside Hitter Angelique Morgan (Jupiter, Fla.).  Parera came through with three more kills to help bring the gap down to 15-11.  Benedictine responded and won three-straight points to put the lead at 18-11.  Simun added a kill, then a block with Schulte, followed by one more kill to pull the team back to a 19-14 score.  Three-straight BC errors made it 21-17, and one kill each from Morgan and Parera put the deficit at 23-20.  However, the final two points went to the Ravens to close a 25-20 win, and put MVC down two games in the match.

Needing a win in the third game, Missouri Valley went behind early, 4-0.  Morgan finished off the first kill for the Vikings, but the deficit sat at 6-3.  The next five points were won by the Vikings, as Schulte and Simun teamed up on a block, while Simun landed two more kills to help move the team in front, 8-6.  The Ravens answered with three-straight points, and eventually sat on top, 10-9.  Missouri Valley took control of the game from there, winning eight of the next nine points.  Schulte started the run with a kill, followed by one kill from both Morgan and Parera.  Freshman Setter Paige Seibert (Festus, Mo.) put down an ace, and three-straight BC errors allowed the Vikings to hold a 17-11 advantage.  Benedictine won four-straight to cut the gap to 17-15, but Parera and Simun each added one kill to put the lead out to 20-16.  Missouri Valley held off a late BC rally attempt, taking four of the final five points.  Simun and Morgan each had one kill, and a Senior Defensive Specialist Jeanie Palsis (Nanakuli, Hawaii) gave MVC a 25-20 win the game.

Missouri Valley took the opening two points of the fourth game, which included one kill from Bartolome.  Benedictine responded by winning eight-straight points to build an 8-2 lead.  The advantage grew for BC through the next stretch of play, and hit double-digits for the first time at 16-6. The Vikings closed the gap to single-digits, at 16-8, but that's as close as the team could get.  Benedictine closed out the fourth game with a 25-12 score to win the match, 3-1 in games.

Simun finished with a double-double of 11 kills and 13 digs.  Parera had 12 kills and six digs.  Schulte added seven kills.  Day led with 20 assists, while Palsis had a team-high 26 digs.  Junior Defensive Specialist Momoko Yokoyama (Tokyo, Japan) had 15 digs and Senior Defensive Specialist Genevieve Hopkinson (Spanish Fork, Utah) added 12 digs.  Missouri Valley totaled seven blocks and two aces as a team.

The loss ends the regular season for Missouri Valley at 15-16 overall and 7-10 in the Heart.  Benedictine improves to 20-7 on the season and 12-5 in the conference.

Up next, the Viking women's volleyball team will play in the Heart Women's Volleyball Championship, as the No. 8 seed.  The team will travel to play No. 1 seed Park (Mo.), in the quarterfinal round, Saturday at 11 a.m., in Parkville, Mo.  This is the first conference tournament appearance for the program since 2018.

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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.