Wildcats Bounce Back, Take Down Missouri Valley in Five Sets

BALDWIN CITY - After falling to Benedictine in max sets on Friday, the Baker volleyball team came out on top of its first five-set match at home this year with a 3-2 victory over Missouri Valley on Tuesday Night in the Collins Center.

With the Vikings winning set one, 25-20, and forcing a fifth with a 25-23 win in set four, the Wildcats won back-to-back sets in the second and third (25-21, 25-22) and fought back in the decisive fifth set to claim the match on a 15-12 win.

Both teams hit .200 or better for the match with MVC marking a slightly better percentage at .207, but Baker got season-high kills from Aby Widhalm (22) and Kaitlyn Stout (20) and had a third player in double-digits with Meredith Brown's 12 kills.

It was also a career night for Kierstyn Harmon who tallied 33 assists for her highest outing since joining the Wildcats in 2023 and made it a double-double effort with 13 digs as well. Taryn Dial posted her fourth game this season with at least 20 assists with 23 in the match, while Emma Grossoehme fell two digs shy of her season-high with 30 digs.

Missouri Valley began the night by winning the first five points and, after Baker eventually tied things up, pushed its lead out to 19-11 to take an early advantage. Stout, Brown and Widhalm each connected on attacks to get BU within four, but the Vikings held on to win by five points - the largest margin of victory for the match.

After being held without an ace in her first 13 matches this season, Widhalm earned the first of her team-high four aces in the match on a rope that gave BU a 7-3 lead in set two. Kylie Murray and Alyssa Champane each added an ace as well with Champane's making it a five-point lead before the Wildcats went up by as much seven points. The Vikings would cut it to a one-score game, but Abby Elffner followed up her first kill of the match by teamming up with Brown on a block to give Baker a 25-21 win.

Widhalm notched aces in two of the first three points in set three, while Grace Wood added one to put BU out in front, 6-3 early in the frame. A couple of kills by Stout along with another Wildcats ace, this time from Grossoehme, made it a 19-13 lead before the Vikings scored six straight to tie the set. A big attack from the back row by Kennedy Bryan followed by Stout's final kill of the set delivered the 25-22 win for BU.

In set four, MVC led by four points through the early going until three straight kills by Widhalm brought the 'Cats within one. The Vikings continued to hang onto the lead all the way until an attacking error tied the set at 21-all, but the Wildcats couldn't complete the fourth-set rally as MVC forced the fifth on a narrow 25-23 win.

After MVC won the first two points of the fifth set, Baker scored seven of the next nine points to take a crucial three-point lead until the teams switched sides with BU out in front, 8-6. The Vikings looked to play spoiler by going up 10-9, but one final ace from Champane followed by three more kills from Widhalm, including the game-winning spike, sealed Baker's five-set victory this season.

The Wildcats, who now have had six matches in double digits from the service line, racked up a season-high 14 aces in the match with six different players recording at least two of them.

Moving to 9-5 on the year and earning its second conference win of the season, Baker will be back in action on Friday, Oct. 4 to host MidAmerica Nazarene in a Heart matchup set for 6 p.m. in the Collins Center.

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