Wildcats Fall in Five-Set Revenge Match at Friends

WICHITA, Kan. – After sweeping Friends in the season opener last week, Baker volleyball couldn't repeat the result in a rematch on Friday night with the Falcons coming out on top this time in a five-set thriller in Wichita, Kan. to give the Wildcats their first setback of 2024.

With the Falcons taking the first set, 25-21, BU seemed to seize the upper hand by taking the next two sets on respective scores of 25-17 and 26-24 and held a nine-point lead in the fourth before the hosts came back to win the final two frames, 25-23 and 15-12.

Just like their outing in Collins Gym, the two teams were evenly matched throughout the night with both sides hitting just over .180 and tallying 10 aces apiece. Aby Widhalm led the BU attack after posting 19 kills on a .457 hitting percentage, while Kierstyn Harmon (25) and Taryn Dial (22) combined for nearly 50 assists with Harmon registering at least 20 assists for the second time against the Falcons.

Baker found itself down early in the opening set with Friends holding a five-point advantage, but a string of points pulled the 'Cats within three at 14-11 with aces by Harmon and Grace Wood leading the rally.

The Falcons responded by taking five of the next eight rallies to regain their cushion and held off a late surge from BU to win the first set by a four-point margin. It marked Baker's first losing set of the season after winning six straight to begin the year.

The Wildcats came back out in the second set and rattled off a 6-0 run to open the frame with another ace by Wood and a couple of blocks from Kylie Murray. Their defense helped to maintain the lead throughout the rest of the set with Widhalm and Olivia Deichmann joining Murray for a few more blocks.

After Murray connected on a pair of attacks late in the set, Kierra Hipple closed things out with a kill to give the Wildcats the biggest margin of victory between the two clubs with a 25-17 win to draw the match even.

In the third set, Hipple and Widhalm combined for a couple of strong attacks early on and Harmon's ace later on in the set put the Wildcats up by six at 16-10 before a Falcons rally resulted in BU trailing by one late in the third. Trailing 23-21, Widhalm and Meredith Brown came through with five crucial kills to give the Wildcats the win in extra points at 26-24.

The momentum carried over into the fourth for Baker with a couple of aces putting them on top, 8-2 before stretching its lead all the way out to nine points. With the score at 17-8 in BU's favor, the Falcons went on a 9-2 run to climb back in it and scored four unanswered points to tie the set at 22-all before forcing the fifth set on a dramatic 25-23 victory.

In the decisive set, Widhalm blasted a pair of kills to put the Wildcats up by two and Brown made it a three-point lead a little later with her attack making it 8-5 in favor of BU. Friends continued to weather the blows and rally back though, tying the match at 11-11 before scoring four of the final five points to complete its comeback with a 15-12 win in the fifth set.

Senior libero Emma Grossoehme finished with a career-high 32 digs, while Kennedy Bryan (15) and Kate Reese (10) chipped in with double-digit digs as well.

Facing its third KCAC team of the season, Baker travels to Lindsborg, Kan. to take on Bethany on Tuesday, Sept. 3 at 7 p.m.

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