Wildcats Sweep Valley to Earn Weekend Road Split

MARSHALL/FAYETTE, Mo. - Baker volleyball took down Missouri Valley in straight sets on Saturday to split its weekend road trip, following a 3-1 setback at Central Methodist on Friday night.

After battling with the Eagles the night before, the Wildcats came out and dominated the Vikings on Saturday, posting comfortable victories of 25-10, 25-14, 25-20 for their third sweep in the last four matches.

On Friday, Baker went up against a tough CMU squad, falling 3-1 on scores of 25-23, 24-26, 25-18, 25-28. The Eagles hit .283 for the match and tallied 11 blocks, while BU posted a .185 team hitting percentage and had five aces, which is slightly less than its season average.

Aby Widhalm led the Wildcats' attack in Fayette, Mo., finishing with a match-high 17 kills in the first of back-to-back outings with double-digit kills on the weekend. Kohanihokuao Misipeka and Brie Reedy each tallied 11 kills and Taryn Dial totaled 28 assists.

CMU held a small lead for the early part of set one, but BU sprinkled in some solid rallies to tie things up throughout the frame. Back-to-back kills from Misipeka and Widhalm gave the Wildcats a 22-21 lead before the Eagles claimed four of the last five to take the opener.

The script flipped for the second set though as Baker was the one to be in control for most of it, forcing CMU to string rallies together this time. Behind an attack that hit .286 for the set, BU clung to its lead until CMU eventually held a late one-point advantage at 23-22. Reedy and Widhalm teamed up to secure the final four points for BU with each attacker firing off a couple kills to earn an extended 26-24 win.

After seeing the score tied up at 1-1, the Eagles found their stride midway through the third set. They put together the first significant run of the night with an 8-1 stretch to take a 17-11 lead. CMU took five of the last seven points in the third to reclaim the lead in the match.

Baker went down fighting in the fourth, but couldn't overcome a seven-point hole created by the Eagles at 18-11. The Wildcats won five of six points to climb back in it before CMU shut the door for good with a 25-18 win in the fourth.

Traveling to Marshall, Mo. on Saturday, Baker put on a dominating performance against the Vikings with Widhalm leading the charge once again with a double-double effort on 12 kills and 11 digs. Misipeka had a solid line as well, filling up the stat sheet with 10 kills, seven digs, three blocks, three aces and a couple of assists.

After a back-and-forth start to the match, the Wildcats blasted ahead with a monstrous 13-0 run to lead 21-7 before finishing off the set. Four kills from Misipeka and three aces from Dial fueled the huge run, while Murray and Meredith Brown added attacks late to cap the opening set.

Baker continued to dominate in the next set, earning the first seven points of the second and boasting a 12-3 lead through the early stretch. Another string of five straight points gave BU a 20-8 lead before Kaitlyn Stout and Abby Elffner closed out the set this time with back-to-back kills.

In the third set, Missouri Valley put together its best stretch of the day to lead by three before the Wildcats reeled off a devastating run to land the final blow and complete the sweep. Trailing 13-10, BU won six straight points and followed it up with a string of five straight to lead 20-15. Brown sealed the weekend with one final kill to give the Wildcats their eighth conference win of the season.

With a 14-7 record overall, the Wildcats have won 10 of their last 14 matches with three of those four losses coming on the road. Saturday's sweep was the sixth 3-0 victory of the season for a BU side that has only been swept by an opponent once this year.

Up next, Baker will close out the road swing with a tough matchup at (RV) MidAmerica Nazarene on Tuesday, Oct. 21, at 7 p.m. in Olathe, Kan.

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