Volleyball loses first conference match

Story by Hayley Morrical

The volleyball team took its first Heart of America Athletic Conference loss against rival MidAmerica Nazarene University on Thursday.

The Pioneers, who owned the HAAC last year and have a 25-game conference win streak, swept BU, 22-25, 20-25, 24-26.

Freshman outside hitter Kallie Fischer says she thinks the Wildcats showed up on the court with determination, despite the outcome.

“I believe our team gave 100 percent,” Fischer said. “We hustled for balls and made incredible saves.”

The ‘Cats came out with control in the beginning of the first set, and at one point BU had a 14-7 lead. The Pioneers gained momentum, however, and clawed back to take the set by just three points.

The second set was tight as neither team had more than a three-point lead throughout the game, but the ‘Cats couldn’t gain enough force to finish on top.

The Wildcats had a 24-22 lead over MNU in set three, but a Baker foot fault on game point would give the Pioneers the opportunity to take the game, 26-24.

“All the games against MNU were really close,” Fischer said. “We never let MNU get on long runs, and that was because we did a really good job at keeping our composure and not having any breakdowns.”

Junior outside hitter Shannon Bond led Baker with nine kills followed by junior middle hitter Danielle French who put down six.

Defensively, senior libero Sarah Slater was the only player to reach double digits in digs with 18. Slater is currently ranked No. 12 nationally in both total digs and digs per game.

While MNU stays undefeated in conference action, Baker moves to 3-1 in HAAC play and 14-7 overall.

Baker will hit the court again at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday to take on Graceland in Collins Center.