Baker Volleyball Drops Tuesday Tilt at (RV) MNU, 3-1

OLATHE, Kan. - After taking the Pioneers to five sets at home earlier this year, Baker volleyball gave another tough fight last night in the road matchup, but fell to (RV) MidAmerica Nazarene, 3-1 in Olathe, Kan.

The Wildcats got off to a terrific start, snapping MNU's 16-set winning streak right off the bat with a 25-20 victory in the first set. The Pioneers responded by claiming the next three sets to earn their 10th straight win, but were pushed to a fourth set for the first time in five matches.

Baker hit .119 against a solid MNU defense that totaled 15 blocks on the night, but BU was unable to gain much traction from the service line, finishing with just one ace. The Wildcats average over 1.5 aces per set this season and had tallied at least seven aces in their previous five matches coming into the matchup.

Aby Widhalm paced the BU attack with nine kills, while adding in 11 digs as well. Kohanihokuao Misipeka had seven kills and 12 digs. Setters Taryn Dial (14) and Miranda Kuntz (11) combined for 25 assists and libero Reese Kehl recorded a team-best 24 digs.

A kill and an ace from Kylie Murray, along with an attack by Brie Reedy, helped the Wildcats get out to an important three-point lead in the first set. Another kill from Reedy pushed the advantage out to five, and BU kept it at that distance until Kuntz capped the set on a no-look dump to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead.

After falling in their first set in over two weeks, the Pioneers regrouped and were the ones to create an initial cushion, leading by four and then stretching it out even further with a 6-1 run. Baker trimmed the deficit with four straight points, two of them coming on back-to-back kills from Widhalm to make it 16-13. MNU closed out the second by earning eight of the last 11 points to tie the match at 1-1.

The Pioneers used their momentum from the second set to fuel the rest of the match, getting out to a 9-3 lead in the third before pushing it out to double digits and running away with the frame to take their first lead of the night.

MNU picked up right where it left off in the fourth set, rolling to a 5-0 start that led to a quick Baker timeout. Misipeka, Reedy and Meredith Brown each connected on attacks to make it a three-point game at 10-7 in favor of MNU. That would be as close as BU would get though as the Pioneers strung together a couple of strong stretches to finish off the night with a 12-point victory.

With the result, the Wildcats move to 6-5 in road matches this season after going into the three-match road swing with wins in six of their nine matches away from Baldwin City.

Baker will return to friendly confines this weekend and host William Woods for the Heart Game of the Week on Friday, Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. inside the Collins Center. BU will turn around and welcome No. 21 Missouri Baptist to town on Saturday, Oct. 25 with first serve at 1 p.m. in Collins.

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