St. Louis, Mo.- In the Missouri Baptist University Invitational the Spartans hosted Graceland University for the season opener. The team started off the New Year right with a strong performance winning 23-25, 25-18, 25-22 and 25-23. 
In game one, Missouri Baptist started out slow with some nerves. GU took an 8-4 lead that forced coach John Yehling to take a timeout. Graceland continued to out-play the Spartans and stretched their lead to 8-16. The Spartans continued to fight back going on a 6-2 run, trailing only 14-18. Graceland held off the Spartans and the crowd for the 23-25 win. 
In game two the Spartans started out to a much quicker pace. The team returned multiple spikes along with getting their own defensive blocks for points. After an 8-8 tie the Spartans went on a 7-2 run to take a 15-10 lead, with the crowd and momentum on their side. Graceland continued to fight back trying to narrow the lead. However, Missouri Baptist had an answer for every run they had and the Spartans went on for a dominating 25-18 win. 
The most exciting game of the evening turned out to be game three. There was plenty of action along with multiple lead changes between both teams. The Yellow Jackets again took control early taking an 8-5 lead. MBU's Zach Zeris made one of the more exciting plays on the evening. Zach spiked the ball hard enough to knock over a Graceland player over and got the point. 
The crowd got really into the game as that play gave the team an 11-10 lead. The Yellow Jackets wouldn't let the game out of their sights as they matched the Spartans point for point. The team took over the latter part of the game with a key block from Zach Zeris and Sam Platt to make it 20-17 MBU. The Spartans held off Graceland for a 25-22 win.
Missouri Baptist was looking to close out Graceland in game four by getting out to a fast start. Both teams again went back and forth as neither team could get going on a run. The game was tied 10-10, then the Spartans took over with crucial blocks. 
MBU's Danny Traylor made the play of the evening with a sliding dig by the scorer's table that led to the team tying the game up 16-16. That play gave the Spartans a lot of momentum as they went on a 5-0 run to take a 21-16 lead. Graceland tried their best to get back into the game, but Missouri Baptist held them off for a 25-23 victory.
The team is 1-0 on the year and will look for another win in the Missouri Baptist Invitational when they host Rust College tomorrow at 6:00 p.m