The Missouri Baptist women's volleyball team took two sets to get acclimated in its first action of the season on Friday and ended the evening with two victories over St. Ambrose and Illinois Institute of Technology.
Davenport, Iowa - The Missouri Baptist women's volleyball team took two sets to get acclimated in its first action of the season on Friday and ended the evening with two victories over St. Ambrose and Illinois Institute of Technology.
The Spartans, led by the stellar play of Lucy Ford, came back in a match that seemed to be troubled from the beginning. St. Ambrose jumped out to a 21-12 advantage in the first set, en route to a 25-17 victory. Ford would finish the night with 17 kills.
St. Ambrose went on to win the second set 25-22, but began to lose momentum. Entering the third game, the Spartans found their groove. The team mounted a strong defensive effort, led by senior Libero, Tracey Abell (Ft. Zumwalt South), and stymied the Queen Bees, going on to win the third set 25-18.
The Spartans entered the fourth set with the momentum. Abell served to open the set and recorded three straight points, to get the team off to a quick lead. Mobap would lead by as many as eight in the set, but the Queen Bees rallied. St. Ambrose's Tori Matzen led the charge to come back. The junior middle hitter recorded five kills in the set, on her way to 16 total on the night. However, the comeback fell just short, as the Spartans won the fourth set 25-21.
In the fifth and deciding set, Missouri Baptist led the entire way through. Leading 14-10 late, St. Ambrose came on strong, but could not overcome the deficit, dropping the final set 13-15.
The second match was a completely different story for the Spartans. The team went into the match, just minutes after the comeback victory against St. Ambrose, to face the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Mobap took the momentum into the next match and outplayed IIT in each set. The Spartans went on to win in convincing fashion 25-17, 25-17 and 25-15. Molly DeClue and Laura King combined to be the offensive stars for Missouri Baptist. DeClue, a freshman from DeSoto High School, finished the match with 12 kills. King, on the other hand, was also outstanding. The sophomore out of Ursuline Academy finished the evening with an astounding 32 assists.
Missouri Baptist was picked as the 24th ranked team in the NAIA in last week's preseason poll. The team will be back in action tomorrow for morning matches against Georgetown College and Ashford University.
