Women's Volleyball Drops Home Match to No. 18 Central Methodist

Marshall, Mo., (Sept. 27, 2024)- The Missouri Valley College women's volleyball team hosted No. 18 Central Methodist (Mo.) in a Heart of America Athletic Conference contest to open Family Weekend inside the Burns Athletic Complex Friday evening.  The Vikings fell in three games by scores of 18-25, 11-25, 18-25.

The opening game started with the two teams trading points.  Senior Middle Hitter Emma Schulte (Marshall, Mo.) landed a pair of kills, while Junior Middle Hitter Kinga Ramonowicz (Krepiec, Poland) added one kill and Senior Outside Hitter Ana Oro (Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina) put down one ace to pull the team into a 6-5 deficit.  Central Methodist briefly built up its advantage, to an 11-7 score, and the two teams went back-and-forth with points over the next stretch.  The Vikings trailed, 14-10, but followed with a rally.  Junior Outside Hitter Blanca Arciniega Palma (El Paso, Texas) put down two kills, while Junior Setter Ana Santos (Curitiba, Brazil) and Senior Outside Hitter Ksenija Simun (Kotor, Montenegro) each had one kill as the team won five of six points to tie the score at 15-15.  The Eagles followed with six-straight points to go back on top, 21-15.  The next kill for MVC came from Simun to make it a 22-17 deficit, and Central Methodist closed out the game from there, ending it a 25-18.

Play in the second game started with Central Methodist gradually building up a lead, through a 9-4 score.  Simun had one kill, and MVC trailed, 11-6.  The Eagles took control of the game from there, and eventually led, 20-7.  Missouri Valley was unable to work back, and the game ended, 25-11.

Needing a win in the third game to avoid the sweep, the Vikings used two kills from Santos, one kill each from Simun and Oro and an ace from Junior Defensive Specialist Avery Crain (Shell Knob, Mo.) to tie the teams at 7-7.  The two teams continued to trade points, as Simun and Schulte put down one kill apiece, while Schulte and Palma teamed up on a block, and the pair of Senior Middle Hitter Alanah Best (Lima, Ohio) and Oro followed with a block to keep the score even at 15-15.  Central Methodist responded to win five of the next six points, and move ahead, 20-16.  Simun finished off a pair of late kills, but the Eagles eventually won the game, 25-18, to finish off the sweep.

Simun led with eight kills, and added five digs.  Oro had six kills and nine digs.  Santos led with 24 assists, and had eight digs.  Junior Libero Ana Franco (Cascais, Portugal) led the team with 19 digs.  Missouri Valley totaled three blocks and two aces as a team.

Missouri Valley drops to 10-7 overall and 2-2 in the Heart.  Central Methodist improves to 14-3 on the season and 4-1 in the conference.

Up next, the Viking women's volleyball team travels to Baldwin City, Kan., for a Heart match against Baker (Kan.), Tuesday at 7 p.m.

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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.

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