Wildcats Flip Standings with Sweep of William Woods in Heart Game of the Week

BALDWIN CITY - Baker volleyball delivered a dominant performance at home on Friday night, sweeping William Woods 3-0 in the Heart Game of the Week during the program's annual Pink Out match inside the Collins Center.

The Wildcats won by set scores of 25-9, 25-18, 25-23 to record their seventh sweep of the season and their second one in three matches heading into Saturday's showdown against nationally-ranked Missouri Baptist.

The matchup featured two teams positioned back-to-back in the Heart standings, with William Woods entering the night in sixth and Baker just behind in seventh. With the win, the Wildcats leapfrogged the Owls in the standings as the positioning for the Heart Conference Tournament continues to tighten.

The Wildcats hit .203 for the match while holding the Owls to just .041 and posted a 14–13 advantage in blocks along with a 7-3 edge in service aces.

Aby Widhalm led the way with a dynamic two-way performance, recording 10 kills, 17 digs and three aces, including two in the opening set. Kohanihokuao Misipeka chipped in seven kills and 14 digs, while Meredith Brown also finished with seven kills and posted a team-high four blocks.

Setter Taryn Dial guided the offense with 22 assists and two aces, and libero Reese Kehl recorded a match-high 21 digs and four assists.

Baker set the tone early behind some stellar serving and a fast offensive rhythm in the opening frame. The Wildcats tallied six of their seven aces in the match during the first set, including early strikes from Dial and Widhalm.

Back-to-back aces from Kylie Murray capped a 4-0 run that pushed the lead to 15-4, and Misipeka added one of her own to make it 18-5. Widhalm closed the door late, putting down four kills before sealing the set on her second ace of the frame for a dominating 25-9 win.

The Wildcats continued to build momentum in the second set, jumping out to a 4-0 lead before extending it to 8-2 on consecutive kills from Murray. William Woods put together its best stretch of the frame to pull within 11-8, but Baker answered every push.

Widhalm and Abby Elffner delivered key kills to extend the advantage to 21-15, and Kaitlyn Stout connected on a pair of late kills to help secure the 25-18 win and a 2-0 match lead.

The third set featured the most back-and-forth action of the night as William Woods took its first lead of the match at 7-6. Widhalm and Brown responded with back-to-back kills to swing the lead back to Baker at 9-7, and the teams traded points until a 15-15 tie.

From there, Brown and Elffner combined for a big block to regain momentum, and the Wildcats used a string of WWU errors to go ahead 20-17. The Owls made one final push to get within one late, but Stout and Elffner powered down key kills in the final points to close out the sweep with a 25-23 win in the third.

With the win, Baker moves to 15-8 overall and 9-6 in Heart play while remaining strong at home at 7-3. The Wildcats have now secured sweeps in four of their last six matches, including alternating sweeps in their last three contests.

Baker will turn around and host another key Heart matchup tomorrow, Oct. 25, facing No. 21 Missouri Baptist at 1 p.m. in the Collins Center.

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