Baker Volleyball Sweeps Pride to Earn Fourth Straight Victory

BALDWIN CITY - Baker volleyball came away with its first sweep of conference play after defeating Clarke, 3-0 on Friday night in the Collins Center to earn BU's fourth straight win.

The Wildcats claimed the match on identical scores of 25-18 sandwiched around a 28-26 victory in the second set to pick up their third overall sweep of the season. BU won twice in straight sets during non-conference play with 3-0 victories over Tabor (Aug. 22) and USHP (Aug. 29).

Hitting .237 for the night, Baker spread the ball around and had seven different players register an attack in the match. Kylie Murray led the way, matching her season high with 14 kills, while posting a .370 hitting percentage. Taryn Dial recorded 21 assists and libero Reese Kehl finished with 19 digs.

Looking for her first one of the fall coming into tonight, Meredith Brown racked up four aces to go along with five kills and a couple of blocks.

The matchup started off with both sides connecting from the service line as the first set featured seven total aces, including three from Brown. Brown's first ace put the Wildcats in front early at 6-5 before they really created some cushion during her next serve where the senior from Olathe, Kan. reeled off two more aces during a 6-0 run.

Brie Reedy, Kaitlyn Stout and Abby Elffner all tallied kills down the stretch and Murray tacked on the final ace as the Wildcats won the opening frame, 25-18.

Just like the first set, Clarke came out and earned the first set of points before a BU run swung the lead back to the home side with Reedy making it 10-5 on her first attack of the frame. The Pride eventually tied things up midway through the set and scored four straight to take a 22-18 lead.

The Wildcats responded with a huge effort at the net by Brown and Murray, who tallied a couple of blocks to tie the set at 23-all. After Clarke had set point, BU rattled off three straight points to take the second set in extras at 28-26.

In the third set, Baker continued to capitalize on Brown's serve with her fourth ace of the match, along with kills from Stout and Murray, giving the Wildcats an early five-point edge. A kill from Kohanihokuao Misipeka and an ace from Kehl kept the Pride at arm's length.

Brown fired off a string of three attacks and a kill from Murray made it a 17-10 lead for BU. The Wildcats maintained their lead the rest of the way with one final ace coming their way courtesy of Dial and Misipeka closed things out by hammering home the last point to finish off a Friday night sweep.

With victories in four straight matches, the Wildcats move to 9-4 overall for their best start through 13 matches since 2014, when BU also won nine of their first 13 contests. That year, the Wildcats went on to win their next four matches and boast a 13-4 record midway through the season.

Baker will continue its weekend homestand and turn around and host Mount Mercy tomorrow (Sept. 27) at Noon for a Saturday afternoon matchup in the Collins Center.

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