Women's Volleyball Pulls Off Upset Win Over No. 17 Park

Marshall, Mo., (Oct. 4, 2024)- The Missouri Valley College women's volleyball team welcomed No. 17 Park (Mo.) into the Burns Athletic Complex for a Friday evening for a Heart of America Athletic Conference match.  The Vikings worked back from an early deficit to pull off the upset in five games, by scores of 22-25, 25-18, 12-25, 29-27, 15-8.

Missouri Valley went in front at the start of the first game, using one kill from both Junior Middle Hitter Patrysia Uzoma (Moscow, Russia) and Senior Outside Hitter Ana Oro (Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina) to lead, 4-1.  The two teams traded points over the next stretch of play, as Junior Outside Hitter Blanca Arciniega Palma (El Paso, Texas) and Senior Outside Hitter Ksenija Simun (Kotor, Montenegro) each added one kill through a 10-7 score.  The Vikings won five-straight points, as four Park errors and a Simun kill stretched the advantage to 15-7.  A four-point run for MVC, helped by one kill from Oro and Junior Middle Hitter Kinga Ramonowicz (Krepiec, Poland) made it a 20-11 lead.  The Vikings stayed on top, 22-13, but Park followed with a long run.  The final 12 points of the match were won by PU to finish out a 25-22 win the game.

The second game started with a long run for Missouri Valley, taking 11-straight points.  Simun landed two kills, while Uzoma and Senior Middle Blocker Emma Schulte (Marshall, Mo.) each had one kill.  Uzoma teamed up with Simun and Schulte on a pair of blocks and Sophomore Setter Paige Siebert (St. Louis, Mo.) added one ace through an 11-1 score.  The Vikings increased their lead, as Oro put down a pair of kills, and Uzoma had one kill to make it a 16-4 advantage.  Park worked back to win six-straight points, and trail, 16-10.  The two teams traded points through a 21-15 score.  The Pirates cut their deficit to 21-18, but MVC ended the game with a run.  Uzoma started the final stretch off with a kill, followed by a block from Oro.  Schulte made it game-point with a kill, and Ramonowicz finished off one more kill to make it a 25-18 win for the Vikings, and to tie the match at 1-1.  Missouri Valley limited PU to a -.111 hitting percentage in the game.

The third game featured Park take control from the start and eventually finish off a 25-12 win.  The Pirates went in front early in the fourth game, at a 7-3 score.  Oro answered with two-straight kills, followed by one kill from Palma to cut the deficit to 7-6.  Another three-point run, helped by an ace from Junior Defensive Specialist Avery Crain (Shell Knob, Mo.) and a block from Uzoma and Palma made it an 11-10 Park advantage.  The Vikings worked back to take the lead at 16-15 after a Ramonowicz kill, and Ramonowicz later put down another kill to help keep the team on top, 19-17.  The teams traded points through the rest of the game.  Simun landed a kill to give MVC its first game-point, 24-21.  The team eventually held six game-points.  After an Oro kill gave the team its sixth chance to close things out, Ramonowicz ended a 29-27 win with one more kill, and the Vikings sent the match into a fifth game.

The two teams traded early points in the final game, through a 3-3 score.  Ramonowicz had two kills, while Schulte and Junior Setter Ana Santos (Curitiba, Brazil) had one kill each.  Five-straight points won by the Vikings was capped by an ace from Santos, and the team held a 7-3 lead.  Park worked its deficit down to 9-6, but Siebert came back with an ace, and Simun added one kill to put the advantage at 12-6.  The Vikings won the final three points in the fifth game, featuring one kill from both Simun and Oro, to finish off a 15-8 win, and earn the upset victory.  The team hit .500 in the game.

Oro led with a double-double of 15 kills and a season-high 28 digs.  Simun had 12 kills and five digs, while Ramonowicz totaled 11 kills.  Siebert had a double-double, with a team-high and career-high 29 assists to go with 10 digs, and Santos added 15 assists.  Junior Libero Ana Franco had 22 assists.  Missouri Valley finished with nine blocks and four aces.  This is the first win over a ranked opponent for the program since a five-game win over No. 12 Montana Tech back on Aug. 31, 2018.

Missouri Valley improves to 11-8 overall and 3-3 in the Heart.  Park drops to 13-6 on the season and 3-3 in the conference.

Up next, the Viking women's volleyball team hosts Benedictine (Kan.), Saturday at 2 p.m., inside the Burns Athletic Complex.

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.