The volleyball team split a pair of weeknight matches with its win coming on Sept. 13 against William Penn in Oskaloosa, Iowa. The Wildcats’ loss came Sept. 15 against No. 9 Evangel at home. The Wildcats now sit at 8-7 on the year and 1-2 in the Heart.

Against William Penn, Baker played strong defense, getting 11 total team blocks. Senior Danielle French led the charge with seven block assists and eight kills on 16 attempts.

Fellow senior, Paige Meader commented on some of her teammates’ play this week.

“Danielle French has been having some amazing games and really showing her senior leadership out on the court,” Meader said. “Freshman Kailin Cordes has also been really stepping up and doing great things as one of our outside hitters.”

Cordes recorded nine total kills against William Penn on Tuesday. This was the most by any Baker player that day.

Baker won in straight sets 25-17, 25-22, 25-15. The loss for the William Penn dropped the Statesmen to 2-12 on the season and 0-2 in the Heart.

The match against Evangel did not go as well. The Wildcats came in hot in the first set to win 25-17. But Evangel played much better in the next three sets, knocking off Baker 25-19, 25-17 and 25-16.

Sophomore Jenna Sackman was a highlight player for Baker Thursday. She passed out 22 assists and also helped on the defensive end with five digs. Junior Kadie Baumgardner led the team this match with 19 digs. Baumgardner is No. 9 in the NAIA in digs in 2015.

Despite Thursday’s match, Meader is still confident moving foward.

“We have a great team with a lot of skill but we are young and still trying to figure out how to play with each other on the court,” Meader said. “I know that we have all the tools to win games and I have a lot of faith in this team and our ability to play. We just need to get back to the basics and we will do fine.”

The Wildcats will spend this whole week on campus before the annual MNU tournament Friday and Saturday in Olathe.

“Not having to travel anywhere this week will be really nice and allow us to rest up and focus on the tournament this weekend,” Meader said.