Wildcats Sweep Yellowjackets to Begin Weekend Road Trek

LAMONI, Iowa - Baker volleyball picked up its second sweep against a Heart team this season with a victory in straight sets at Graceland on Friday night, snapping a three-game road skid for BU.

The Wildcats defeated the Yellowjackets on scores of 25-23, 25-22 and 25-21 to earn their 10th win of the year and push their road record back up to .500 with a 4-4 showing in away games.

Aby Widhalm posted a double-double for the third time in the last four matches with a team-high 14 kills and 12 digs, while hitting a scorching .345 for the night. Alyssa Champane (16) and Taryn Dial (11) combined for 27 assists with Champane marking her second straight game with double-digit assists.

Baker totaled nine aces in the match with Grace Wood earning three of them and Champane, Kierstyn Harmon and Kylie Murray each registering two apiece.

Aces from Champane and Wood helped the Wildcats keep a two-point lead early in the opening set with Wood's coming during a 7-1 run for BU which saw kills by Widhalm and Murray also helping to fuel the run. Trailing by six late, the Yellowjackets cut it to a one-score game with Baker sitting at set point. GU's rally fizzled out following a BU timeout with a service error giving the Wildcats a 25-23 win in set one.

The second set was nearly a carbon copy of the previous one with Baker going on another 7-1 spurt to open the frame before the Yellowjackets tied it up at 10-10 again. Just like the first set, the Wildcats reached set point, but the hosts fought back, prompting BU head coach Nils Nielsen to call another well-timed timeout. The stoppage paid off once again as the set ended on another error from the GU service line, closing out a 25-21 win for BU.

Harmon and Champane each tallied an ace early in set three with Champane's making it an 8-7 lead for the Wildcats. After falling behind by two, Baker won five of the next six points and eventually started to pull away late with back-to-back aces from Wood setting up match point. For the third straight time, the final point came on a stray serve from the Yellowjackets and the Wildcats finished off the sweep with a 25-21 win in the third.

Winning five of their first seven matches of the season in straight sets, the Wildcats collected their seventh overall sweep of the fall and their first since a 3-0 victory at home against Clarke back on Sept. 22.

Baker closes out the weekend road trip with a match at Peru State on Saturday, Oct. 12 at 1 p.m. in Peru, Neb.

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