Women's Volleyball Suffers Road Loss at William Penn

Oskaloosa, Iowa, (Oct. 25, 2024)- The Missouri Valley College women's volleyball team traveled to Oskaloosa, Iowa for a Heart of America Athletic Conference match with William Penn (Iowa), Friday evening.  The Vikings fell by scores of 20-25, 18-25, 22-25.

Game one started with Missouri Valley moving out to an early advantage.  Junior Middle hitter Kinga Ramonowicz (Krepiec, Poland) and Senior Outside Hitter Ksenija Simun (Kotor, Montenegro) put down one kill each to make it a 4-0 score.  The Vikings held on to their lead over the next stretch of play, as Junior Outside Hitter Blanca Arciniega Palma (El Paso, Texas) landed three kills, Ramonowicz finished off one kill and one ace, while both Simun and Junior Setter Ana Santos (Curitiba, Brazil) had one kill each to keep MVC ahead, 11-8.  William Penn answered back and eventually went on top by a 15-12 score.  Simun put down a pair of kills, while Senior Middle Hitter Emma Schulte (Marshall, Mo.) had one kill and Junior Defensive Specialist Avery Crain (Shell Knob, Mo.) put down an ace to tie the teams at 17-17.  Two kills from Palma kept the score tied, at 19-19, but WPU won six of the final seven points in the game to finish off a 25-20 win.

The Vikings jumped out to another early lead in the second game, as Senior Defensive Specialist Momoko Yokoyama (Tokyo, Japan) had an ace, and Simun finished off two kills to make it a 6-3 lead.  William Penn gradually worked down its deficit, and eventually went in front, 13-9.  Five of the next six points were won by WPU, to put Missouri Valley in an 18-10 deficit.  An ace from Junior Libero Ana Franco (Cascais, Portugal) helped MVC win four-straight points, including two kills from Simun, to trail, 20-15.  Ramonowicz added two more kills late in the game, but William Penn won by a final score of 25-18.

Needing a win in the third game to extend the match, Missouri Valley fell into a 13-3 deficit.  The team answered with a run to win eight of nine points during a stretch of play.  Palma and Ramonowicz teamed up on a block, while Palma added another block with Junior Middle Hitter Patrysia Uzoma (Moscow, Russia).  Palma had one kill during the run, and MVC trailed, 14-10.  The team continued to work back, and used one kill from Simun and another kill from Ramonowicz to put the score at 20-17.  Palma came back with three more kills, and Uzoma added another kill to cut the gap to 23-22.  William Penn responded, and won the final two points of the game to finish out a sweep, with a 25-22 score.

Simun led with a double-double of 11 kills and a team-high 17 digs.  Palma had 10 kills.  Sophomore Setter Paige Siebert (St. Louis, Mo.) led with 11 assists.  Franco finished with 16 digs.  Missouri Valley totaled four blocks and six aces as a team.

Missouri Valley drops to 14-12 overall and 6-7 in the Heart.  William Penn improves to 15-14 on the season and 6-7 in the conference.

Up next, the Viking women's volleyball team goes to Des Moines, Iowa for a Heart match with Grand View (Iowa), Saturday at 2 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.