Women's Volleyball Drops Pair of Games at Ottawa Invitational

Ottawa, Kan., (Sept. 13, 2024)- The Missouri Valley College women's volleyball team played twice at the Ottawa (Kan.) Invitational in Ottawa, Kan., Friday.  The Vikings lost in five games to St. Mary (Kan.) in the opener.  The team then fell in three games to No. 6 Oklahoma Wesleyan.

The first game with St. Mary featured the two teams trading points through much of play.  With the score tied at 5-5, Missouri Valley used a block from Junior Middle Hitter Kinga Ramonowicz (Krepiec, Poland) and Junior Setter Ana Santos (Curitiba, Brazil), and one kill from Senior Outside Hitter Ksenija Simun (Kotor, Montenegro), Ramonowicz and Santos to move in front, 10-8.  St. Mary answered back to win six of the next seven points, and claim a 14-11 lead.  The Vikings put together their own run, this time winning six of seven points, featuring two kills from Simun, one kill from Senior Outside Hitter Ana Oro (Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina) and one ace from Senior Libero Momoko Yokoama (Tokyo, Japan) to go ahead, 17-15.  The Spires worked back to tie the score, at 20-20, and eventually won five of the final six points to take game one over MVC, 25-21.

The teams traded points to open play in the second game, through a 9-9 score.  Simun finished off one kill, and two USM errors allowed Missouri Valley to hold a 12-9 advantage.  The Vikings continued to stay in front, and made it a 17-14 score after one kill from Oro.  St. Mary came back to tie the teams at 21-21, but one kill from both Oro and Simun, along with a Spires error gave Missouri Valley its first game-point, at 24-22.  St. Mary again tied things up, this time at 24-24, but two final errors from USM gave the Vikings a 26-24 win in the game.

Missouri Valley gradually built up a lead in the third game, as Senior Middle Hitter Alanah Best (Lima, Ohio) put down four kills through the early stretch of play, and Oro added an ace to help put the advantage at 12-9.  St. Mary won four-straight points to move in front, 13-12, but MVC came back with a run.  Seven of the following eight points were won by Missouri Valley, as Oro had two kills, while both Ramonowicz and Simun added one kill apiece.  The stretch ended on a block from Ramonowicz and Santos to make it a 19-14 lead.  The Spires came back with another rally, this time inning six of the next seven points to tie the teams at 20-20.  Missouri Valley closed out the game from there, as Oro had two kills and Santos landed two aces to finish a 25-21 win, and put the team in front, 2-1, in games won.

Game four started with St. Mary going out to a 6-3 lead.  An ace from Junior Defensive Specialist Avery Crain (Shell Knob, Mo.) tied the score at 6-6, but the Vikings were never able to pull ahead.  The Spires held a 21-13 advantage, which was followed by one kill from Santos, and three-straight kills from Oro to help cut the deficit to 21-17.  Back-to-back aces from Junior Defensive Specialist Ana Franco (Cascais, Portugal) put the score at 22-20, and another pair of aces from Santos allowed MVC to tie the teams at 23-23.  The Vikings kept St. Mary from capitalizing on two game-points.  Missouri Valley then held three chances at match-point, through a 28-27 score.  However, St. Mary won the final three points in the game to make it 30-28, and send the contest into a fifth game.

St. Mary got in front early in the deciding game, and built up an 8-4 advantage.  Oro and Simun put down one kill each to cut the deficit down to 8-6, but the Spires pulled away from there.  Missouri Valley never trailed by fewer than three points through the rest of play, and St. Mary won the final game, 15-10.

Oro led with a season-high 24 kills, and added nine digs.  Simun totaled a double-double of 15 kills and 11 digs.  Ramonowicz had eight kills.  Franco led with a season-high 33 assists, and Santos finished with 51 assists to go with five aces.  Missouri Valley totaled five blocks and 13 aces as a team.

The first game with Oklahoma Wesleyan featured Missouri Valley going out to a 5-1 lead.  Franco put down an ace, while Oro added a pair of kills during the stretch of play.  Oklahoma Wesleyan worked back to tie the teams at 6-6, but two kills from Simun and one kill from Ramonowicz put MVC back on top, 11-9.  The two teams traded points through a 14-14 score, while OKWU followed with a run to pull ahead, 20-16.  Oro landed a pair of late kills, but Oklahoma Wesleyan finished out a win in the game, 25-21.

The Vikings again went in front at the start of the second game, as Best teamed up with Santos on a block, then finished off a kill.  Both Simun and Oro landed one kill each, as the advantage sat at 5-1.  Oklahoma Wesleyan worked its deficit down to 7-6, but Simun answered back with another kill to put the lead at 8-6.  The next seven points were won by OKWU, as the team built up a 13-8 advantage.  Missouri Valley responded to win four-straight points, as Oro finished off a block and a kill during the run to cut the gap down to 13-12.  Oklahoma Wesleyan stayed in front through the rest of the game, and eventually made it a 20-13 score.  Oro landed three late kills, but OKWU won the second game, 25-18.

Oklahoma Wesleyan jumped in front at the start of the third game, at a 10-4 score.  The Vikings were unable to string together a run through much of play in the game, and could not cut its deficit any lower than four points through the rest of play.  Oklahoma Wesleyan eventually won the final game, 25-17, to sweep Missouri Valley.

Oro led with 15 kills, while Santos added 20 assists.  Franco led with seven digs.  Missouri Valley finished with five blocks as a team.

Missouri Valley drops to 8-5 on the season following today's games.

Up next, the team opens play in the Heart of America Athletic Conference, hosting Peru State (Neb.), Friday at 7 p.m., inside the Burns Athletic Complex.

St. Mary Box Score-Click Here

Oklahoma Wesleyan Box Score-Click Here

About Missouri Valley College

Known for its dynamic, richly diverse, and friendly educational environment, Missouri Valley College offers many opportunities to grow in mind, body, and spirit. Grounded in the liberal arts, undergraduate studies empower students to master interdisciplinary skills needed to succeed in a knowledge-based global society. MVC offers over 30 academic programs, study abroad program, extracurricular activities, and a wide variety of sports. The most popular majors include education and business, criminal justice and exercise science. Above all, Valley is committed to student success. For more information, call (660) 831-4000 or visit www.moval.edu.

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