Ravens Volleyball picked up another Heart of America win at home Tuesday night.
The Ravens took down the Missouri Valley College Vikings in four sets, improving to 8-2 at home this season.
The Ravens led for the majority of the opening set, but the Vikings kept close tabs on the home side. The teams traded points from 18-17 to 20-19 before the Vikings tied the score for the first time, 20-20. This forced a Ravens timeout and the respite worked – the Ravens scored 4-straight points and won the set 25-21. Carolina Zapata and Hokulani Sagapolu combined to score the final 5 points of the set.
Missouri Valley answered in the second set, jumping out to a 9-1 lead. The Ravens seemed to find their footing with a 7-0 run that included a trio of aces by Evelyn Arreola, but the Vikings answered that run with an 8-2 run of their own.
The Vikings held their advantage from that point on, winning the set 25-16 to level the match, 1-1.
A motivated Ravens team came out hot in the third set, racing out to a 13-4 lead that ballooned to 18-5 before the Vikings were able to slow some of the momentum. It was too little, too late for the visitors as the Ravens won the third set 25-14, and moved in front 2-1 in the match. The front line played a big part in the dominating set as the Ravens recorded 12 block assists in the third.
The Ravens closed things out in the fourth set, but not without a fight from the Vikings. The visitors grabbed an early 8-7 lead, but the Ravens answered with a 7-1 run to take a 14-9 lead. That lead increased to 17-12 as the Ravens seemed to have control of the set and the match, but the Vikings responded to trim the deficit to 18-17.
Once again, the Ravens pushed their lead back out to 21-17 and once again Missouri Valley responded to close the gap to 1 point. Up 23-22, the Ravens put the finishing touches on the match with kills by Mary Pat Taylor and Regan Bruggeman, winning the set 25-22, and the match, 3-1.
Sagapolu had a match-high 14 kills to lead the Ravens, while Zapata and Maura Lickteig each had 8 kills. Lickteig also recorded a solo block and 5 block assists.
Bruggeman, Taylor and Sabrina Oncins each had 6 kills, with Taylor adding 20 digs. Haley Cahill had 22 assists, Marissa Mantz had 18 assists, and Arreola notched 5 aces and 19 digs.
The Ravens improve to 17-4 overall and 9-2 in Heart of America play. They'll travel to take on Culver-Stockton College Saturday, Oct. 14.
