Women's Volleyball Outlasts Peru State in Heart Opener

Marshall, Mo., (Sept. 20, 2024)- The Missouri Valley College women's volleyball team hosted Peru State (Neb.) to open play in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Friday evening, inside the Burns Athletic Complex.  The Vikings went the distance against the Bobcats, and earned a victory by scores of 19-25, 25-13, 25-18, 17-25, 15-3.

Game one of the match started with the two teams trading points through a 10-10 score.  Senior Outside Hitter Ana Oro (Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina) landed three kills, and Senior Outside Hitter Ksenija Simun (Kotor, Montenegro) added two kills during the stretch of play.  Peru State began to create an advantage from there, and went on top, 17-13.  Simun and Oro each added one kill to make it a 19-16 score.  The gap was cut down to 20-18 after another kill from Oro, followed by one kill from Senior Middle Blocker Emma Schulte (Marshall, Mo.).  The Bobcats pulled away from there, winning five of the final six points to end game one, 25-19.

Missouri Valley took control of the second game from the start, going out to a 7-0 lead.  Simun and Oro each had two kills, while Senior Middle Blocker Alanah Best (Lima, Ohio) added one kill.  Best and Oro teamed up on a block to end the early run for the Vikings.  The advantage continued to grow from there, and three-straight points, including one kill from Junior Middle Blocker Kinga Ramonowicz (Krepiec, Poland) put the lead at double-digits, 15-5.  Another four-point run, featuring Junior Setter Ana Santos (Curitiba, Brazil) finishing off a solo block, then teaming up with Ramonowicz on a block and adding one kill, made it a 19-6 score.  Peru State went on a run, winning six of eight points during a late stretch, but Junior Outside Hitter Blanca Arciniega Palma (El Paso, Texas) finished off two kills to help end the game, 25-13, in favor of the Vikings.

The two teams traded points at the start of the third game, as the score was tied at 11-11.  Palma had three kills, while Best and Simun finished off one kill each during the early run.  Four-straight points for MVC, including two kills from Oro and one Santos kill, gave the team a 15-11 lead.  Missouri Valley gradually built up the advantage from there, as Simun finished off four more kills through the run of play.  Oro had two more kills to close out the game, 25-18, and put Missouri Valley in front, 2-1, in games won.

Peru State took an early lead in the fourth game, and held control through much of play.  The Vikings sat in a 15-8 deficit, before starting to work back.  Oro had two-straight kills, while Santos landed one kill and an ace to put the deficit at 15-12.  A block from Best and Simun, followed by another kill from Simun brought the team to within a 19-17 score.  The Bobcats closed out the game from there, taking the final six points to win, 25-17, sending the match into a fifth game. 

The deciding game in the match was dominated by Missouri Valley from the start.  One kill from both Santos and Oro helped MVC to an early 4-1 lead.  The team then won 10-straight points, including three Simun kills and one kill and an ace from Oro to quickly move the team to match-point.  Simun put down one final kill to seal the game, 15-3, and give Missouri Valley a 3-2 victory in the match. The team hit at a match-high .571 percentage in the game, and held PSC to a -.294 hitting percentage.

Simun led with a double-double of 22 kills, on a .488 hitting percentage, to go with 20 digs.  Simun tied a career-high in kills, and set a new career-high in digs.  Oro had a double-double of 19 kills and 15 digs.  Ramonowicz added seven kills on a .500 hitting percentage.  Santos also had a double-double, posting 50 assists and 13 digs.  Junior Defensive Specialist Ana Franco (Cascais, Portugal) led with 19 digs, and Senior Defensive Specialist Momoko Yokoyama (Tokyo, Japan) had 10 digs.  Missouri Valley finished with six blocks and three aces, while hitting at a .340 percentage as a team.

Missouri Valley improves to 9-5 overall and 1-0 in the Heart.  Peru State drops to 5-10 on the season and 1-2 in the conference.

Up next, the Viking women's volleyball team hosts Graceland (Iowa) in a Heart match, Saturday at 2 p.m., inside the Burns Athletic Complex.  The teams played a non-conference match, back on Aug. 24.  Missouri Valley won by scores of 21-25, 25-15, 26-24, 25-17.

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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.