Volleyball Earns Conference Win with 3-1 Victory over Culver-Stockton

BALDWIN CITY, Kan. – After falling in the first set, the Baker volleyball team rolled off three straight wins to take a 3-1 victory over visiting Culver-Stockton in a Heart of America Conference match here Saturday afternoon in Baldwin City.

With CSC winning the opening set, 26-24, Baker claimed the next three frames on scores of 25-22, 25-23 and 25-23 to earn its first conference victory of the season. The BU attack was led by Kierra Hipple and Adelyn Bybee who each collected 12 kills in the match while Emma Grossoehme notched her first double-double of the season with 23 digs and 18 assists.

Kylie Murray got the home-sided Wildcats going right off the bat with back-to-back aces capping a 4-0 run to start the match. CSC kept the BU lead from stretching too far and eventually climbed its way back to draw the set even at 12-12. It was back and forth from there until Baker scored five straight points to go up, 22-18, but the visitors were able to capture eight of the final 10 points to earn the opening-set victory.

In the second set, a couple of kills from Meredith Brown helped push BU out to a 7-2 advantage early on. Baker would keep CSC at arm's length throughout the set until a 6-0 run saw its lead stretch out to 22-14 and eventually end with BU drawing the match even at 1-1.

The third set featured a tough back-and-forth between the two teams with neither side leading by more than five points in the frame. After CSC went up 15-10, Bybee unleashed three straight attacks to pull Baker within two, while Olivia Deichmann tied the set at 19-19 with one of her five kills in the match. On set point, Kennedy Bryan was able to get a CSC touch on her attack that gave Baker the crucial third-set victory, 25-23.

It was another tight-knit set in the fourth as well with both sides looking to create some sort of cushion. Culver-Stockton made it a three-score game on a BU error to go up 19-16 before another kill by Bryan tied the set at 21-all. With the match even at 23-23, Murray and Brie Reedy teamed up on back-to-back kills with Reedy, a freshman from Topeka, Kan., tallying the final point to give Baker a 3-1 victory in front of the home crowd.

Reese Kehl registered 22 digs for her second straight match with at least 20 digs, while Kierstyn Harmon (12) and Grace Wood (11) chipped in for a combined 23 assists.

Moving to 6-5 on the year, Baker wraps up its non-conference schedule on the road with a match at Southwestern on Wednesday, Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. in Winfield, Kan.

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