Using the preparation from the weekend’s preseason tournament, the Baker University volleyball team grabbed its first conference victory of the season Wednesday against Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Mo.

The Vikings took advantage of Baker’s slow start in game one, defeating the ‘Cats 30-26. However, with the help of teamwork and focus, the ‘Cats responded by winning the next three games to take the match.

Senior Katie Jaschke said she was pleased with the way the team responded.

“I think that we struggled a little early on, but after the first game we stepped up and our team chemistry really stepped up and helped us win the next three games,” she said.

Baker’s 25 blocks and 40 digs were factors in the team’s success. Jaschke had a team-high eight blocks, while junior Jayde Allen contributed to almost half of the team’s digs with 19. Coach Allen said she was exceptionally pleased with the team’s blocking performance.

“Towards the end of the night our passing improved,” she said. “It was a little rough at first, but once we relaxed and settled down, it worked very well for us.”

Perhaps the biggest improvement of the night was the play by freshman Macy Harshbarger. Though just playing in one game, Harshbarger had four serving aces, nine kills and twelve digs with just one error.

Harshbarger said she was happy with her performance and ability to help the team win.

“I feel pretty good about my performance,” she said. “Coach has told me things that I need to work on and I’ve been focusing on them in practice.”

The ‘Cats started the tournament strong on Friday with a quick victory over Graceland University, and carried the momentum into the first two games against Evangel University. However, after winning the first two games, Evangel bounced back by winning three consecutive games to take the match. On Saturday Baker got off to a slow start, dropping three games to Lindenwood University, but rebounded immediately by taking three games in a row from MidAmerica Nazarene University for the win.

The ‘Cats, travel to Sacramento, Calif., Thursday to play in the William Jessup Invitational. They play three games on both Friday and Saturday.