The Baker University volleyball team went 2-2 during its season opener at the Heart of America Athletic Conference preseason tournament last weekend.
To start the weekend off, the Wildcats fell in four games to Lindenwood University. After losing the first game 30-22, the ‘Cats battled back to capture the second game 30-27. The rally wasn’t enough to hold off the opposing squad as Baker fell in the final two games.
Senior Vanessa Wardy said the team struggled during its first match of the season.
“We started off a little rusty,” Wardy said. “We need to keep working on our blocking and being more aggressive with our serving.”
The second match was a chance to start anew, as the ‘Cats found themselves opposing rival MidAmerica Nazarene University.
It only took three games to dispose of MNU. The Wildcats pounced early, winning the first game 30-22. The following game was much closer, but Baker held on to win 31-29. The attack didn’t end there as the ‘Cats pounded MNU in the final game of the match with a 30-15 win.
Junior Kelly Wilbur said she thought the team showed great improvement through the games.
“Our hitting was really good for the weekend,” Wilbur said. “Our blocking has improved a lot since previous scrimmages.”
For the third match of the series, the Baker squad found itself squaring off against Graceland University. In the end, Baker fell 3-1. Graceland opened up with a 30-26 victory, but couldn’t hold on as the second game slipped past them for a 30-20 Baker win. The next two games remained close, but Graceland came out on top, winning 30-23 and 30-25.
Baker headed into the final match of the weekend with a 1-2 record. The ‘Cats claimed victory in four games over Culver-Stockton College. The Wildcats bounded to an early lead, winning the first two games 30-25 and 30-15. Culver-Stockton battled back, capturing the third game 30-23. Baker held on for a close win in the final game, 30-27.
The team showed promise despite some flaws, Wilbur said.
“We need to polish our game a little because we made some mistakes here and there,” Wilber said.
Wardy led the Wildcats with 45 kills for the weekend. Senior Jenifer Koelzer averaged 11.2 assists per game.
The ‘Cats hosted the Baker Triangular on Wednesday. Results were not available at press time.