Women's Volleyball Falls to Mount Mercy in Four Games on the Road

Cedar Rapids, Iowa, (Oct. 11, 2024)- The Missouri Valley College women's volleyball team traveled to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for a Heart of America Athletic Conference match with Mount Mercy (Iowa). The Vikings went in front early, but fell in four games by scores of 25-18, 22-25, 20-25, 15-25.

The first game started with the Mustangs winning the opening four points. Missouri Valley answered back using one kill each from Senior Outside Hitter Ksenija Simun (Kotor, Montenegro), Sophomore Setter Paige Siebert (St. Louis, Mo.), and Senior Outside Hitter Ana Oro (Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina) to tie the score at 4-4. Both teams traded points over the next stretch through a 7-7 score, but the Vikings eventually took the lead with two kills from Junior Middle Hitter Kinga Ramonowicz (Krepiec, Poland) and two errors by the Mustangs, 11-7. Missouri Valley gradually built up a lead from there, as Junior Defensive Specialist Avery Crain (Shell Knob, Mo.) landed an ace, and Junior Outside Hitter Blanca Arciniega Palma (El Paso, Texas), Simun, and Senior Middle Hitter Emma Schulte (Marshall, Mo.) had a kill to hold a 17-12 advantage. Mount Mercy was unable to cut down its deficit through the rest of the game. The Vikings won seven of the last ten points, where the Mustangs had three errors, Arciniega and Ramonowicz teamed up on a block and each added a kill to take game one, 25-18.

Game two started with Mount Mercy going in front early, 7-3. Missouri Valley won three-straight points with two attack errors by the Mustangs and a kill from Oro to cut the gap to 7-6. Points were traded over the next stretch of play through a 16-16 score, featuring one kill from Schulte, who teamed up on a block with Uzoma, followed by an ace from Senior Defensive Specialist Momoko Yokoyama (Tokyo, Japan) and three kills from Oro. Mount Mercy went ahead by taking five of the next six points, holding a 21-17 lead. Simun added two kills to keep the score close but the Mustangs won the second game, 25-22, and tied the teams at 1-1 in games won.

The Vikings opened the third game winning three-straight points with a kill from Schulte and two Mustangs errors. With the game tied at 6-6, Mount Mercy went on top and built up a 16-10 lead. MVC worked back to tie the score, 17-17, winning five-straight points where Oro had a kill, and Ramonowicz and Schulte teamed up on back-to-back blocks. Mount Mercy followed with a run to pull ahead, while the Vikings were unable to work back into the game. The Mustangs finished out a 25-20 score to go on top, 2-1, in games won.

With the Vikings needing a win in the fourth game to extend the match, Mount Mercy moved in front early, 7-3. A kill and an ace by Arciniega and a kill from Ramonowicz brought MVC into a 10-6 deficit. The Mustangs built up a 15-10 advantage and then began to pull away from there to eventually make it a 21-11 score. Arciniega landed a pair of late kills, Junior Setter Ana Santos (Curitiba, Brazil) had an ace and Simun and Ramonowicz teamed up on a block, but Missouri Valley was unable to climb into the game, as Mount Mercy won the final game, 25-15.

Oro led with 13 kills and 13 digs. Simun followed with nine kills, while Arciniega had seven kills. Ramonowicz and Schulte both finished with six kills and 2 blocks each. Siebert added 20 assists and 10 digs, and Junior Defensive Specialist Ana Franco (Cascais, Portugal) also had 24 assists. Missouri Valley had a total of seven blocks and four aces.

Missouri Valley falls to 12-9 overall and 4-4 in the Heart. Mount Mercy improves to 12-12 on the season and 8-2 in the conference.

Up next, the Viking women's volleyball team travels to Dubuque, Iowa for a Heart of America Athletic Conference match against Clarke (Iowa) tomorrow, Saturday at 12 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.