Baker Volleyball Falls to (RV) Park at Home in Straight Sets

BALDWIN CITY - Baker volleyball dropped a home conference match to (RV) Park on Tuesday night in the Collins Center with the Pirates earning a sweep over BU for the second straight time this season.

The Wildcats came up just short in the opening set, falling by a score of 25-23 before Park took the next two sets, 25-16 and 25-8. The Pirates hit a red-hot .343 for the match and totaled 12 aces, while BU tallied five aces, their fewest in a home match this year.

Kaitlyn Stout recorded eight kills to lead the Baker attack and Kierstyn Harmon posted a team-high 11 assists. Kennedy Bryan and Aby Widhalm each finished with 10 digs apiece.

A kill by Olivia Deichmann, followed by an ace from Taryn Dial helped the Wildcats get out to a 7-4 lead early in set one. Stout connected on an attack to put BU up by six before the Pirates came back to tie the set at 16-16.

Baker got a couple of key points late in the set with aces from Stout and Emma Grossoehme bringing the score to a 23-23 deadlock. The Pirates used an ace of their own though to come out on top of an intense first set, 25-23.

As Park took control early in set two, Stout came through with a couple of kills to limit the rallies. A dump from Harmon made it a four-point deficit for BU before the Pirates went on a 7-2 run to go up, 20-11. A kill from Abby Elffner and another quick attack from Harmon pulled Baker back within six, but Park closed out the set to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

In set three, Widhalm and Meredith Brown each scored points in the first set of rallies, but BU's offense would eventually stall following a kill from Brie Reedy at 7-6. From there, the Pirates claimed 18 of the game's final 20 points to come away with the conference win.

Up next, Baker heads to Canton, Mo. to take on Culver-Stockton on Saturday, Oct. 26 with first serve set for 6 p.m.

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