Wildcats Finish Off Weekly Sweep of Swedes with 3-0 Victory at Home

BALDWIN CITY - After claiming the last three sets in Lindsborg on Tuesday, the Baker volleyball team took all three sets in the rematch on Friday night as the Wildcats defeated Bethany for the second time this week and earned their third sweep of the season.

With a back-and-forth start to the night, BU rallied to take the first set, 25-17 before cruising through the next two sets with scores of 25-18 and 25-13 to win their fourth match of the year.

It was another all-around effort for Baker with seven different players registering a kill in the match led by a double-digit outing from Kylie Murray who finished with 10 kills. Kierstyn Harmon (15) and Taryn Dial (11) combined for 26 assists, while Emma Grossoehme tallied a team-high 28 digs.

With exactly 10 aces in each of their previous three outings, the Wildcats once again had a solid performance from the service line with eight aces in the match.

Playing in front of an energetic Collins Center crowd, both teams traded points throughout the early going before a well-timed timeout from head coach Nils Nielsen kickstarted the BU offense. Following the timeout, the Wildcats rattled off an 11-2 run to take the opening set in impressive fashion with a 25-17 victory.

A couple of aces from Kennedy Bryan helped fuel Baker's rally while Olivia Deichmann closed the set with a powerful spike for one of her five kills in the match.

In the second set, the Wildcats used a string of six unanswered points to take a four-point lead during Kate Reese's serve which included a couple of aces for the freshman from Shawnee, Kan. BU continued to spread the wealth around its balanced attack and eventually went up by nine points before kills by Murray and Meredith Brown made it a 2-0 advantage for Baker with a 25-18 win in set two.

The Wildcats started off hot in the third frame as well with a pair of kills from both Murray and Kaitlyn Stout making it a 12-4 lead for the hosts. Murray added an ace later on in the set and Aby Widhalm's attack made it an 11-point cushion for BU at 21-10. After a Swedes service error, the Wildcats scored the next three points with Brown and Stout sealing the match with an emphatic block.

Winning four of their first five matches of 2024, the Wildcats are off to their best start since the 2015 team went 7-1 to begin their season. Additionally, three of BU's four wins have been in straight sets which includes opening up the season with back-to-back sweeps for the first time in at least 20 years.

After defeating Tabor in Collins in the first week of the season, Baker will take on the Bluejays at their place this time with the non-conference matchup set for Tuesday, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. in Hillsboro, Kan.

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