Wildcats Earn Season-Opening Sweep over Falcons

BALDWIN CITY – Opening up its 2024 campaign at home, Baker volleyball took down Friends in straight sets in front of a packed crowd in Collins Gym here Friday night.

Even with the sweep, it was a neck-and-neck battle throughout the match with all three sets being decided by three points or less on scores of 25-23, 25-22 and 25-23.

"There was a lot to like tonight as well as a lot to improve on," said Baker head coach Nils Nielsen. "We just had to stay disciplined, especially there in the second set when we got down, but I told the team if we can do the things we know how to do, then it should work out, so kudos to the girls for being able to buckle down and come away with the win."

The Wildcats hit a solid .213 for the match and tallied seven aces with newcomers Aby Widhalm (14) and Kaitlyn Stout (10) leading the way with double-digit kills. Kierstyn Harmon racked up 20 assists in the first game of her senior season, while Taryn Dial added another 16 assists.

After trading points to start things off, Baker used a string of four straight points to create some separation during Harmon's serve with kills by Widhalm and Meredith Brown making it a 14-10 lead.

BU would go up by as much as six before the Falcons began to climb back in it and made it a one-point ballgame late in the set. But, a heads-up dump by Harmon put the Wildcats at set point and another Widhalm kill sealed the first set.

In set two, it was Friends who took the advantage early on, leading 13-10 before back-to-back kills by Widhalm and an ace from Kate Reese drew the match level at 13-all. A couple of attacks by Kylie Murray put Baker in front and another key ace, this one coming from Dial, gave them a two-point lead. The Wildcats tacked on their fourth ace of the frame before closing out the set, 25-22.

Carrying over the momentum to the final set, BU jumped out to a 6-1 lead to force an early Falcons timeout, which seemed to help regroup the visitors as they got within one a few rallies later.

The margin would stay that way until Murray's kill made it a two-point lead at 16-14 and Widhalm added two more kills to make it 21-19. Then, it was senior Kierra Hipple who hammered home the final point to give the Wildcats a season-opening sweep.

With the victory, the Wildcats won their second straight season opener after defeating Oklahoma Panhandle State last year.

"We have a unique mix of upperclassmen and newcomers and it seems to be going really well right now," added Nielsen. "The crazy thing is that we ran only one lineup the whole night and we have girls on the bench who can very easily play at a high level, so we have a ton of depth along with excellent leadership on the court which all makes for a really fun team."

Baker will be back in action again in Collins on Tuesday, Aug. 27 with a match against Tabor starting at 7 p.m. in Baldwin City.

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