St. Louis, Mo. - After being down two sets to #5 Grand View University, the Spartans battled back, winning on senior day in five sets, 3-2.
Before the game started Abel Castillo, Steve Greaves, Josh Hicks, Sam Platt, Jonathan Roldan and Zach Zeris were honored for their four years here at MBU.
The Vikings came out on a surge in the first set. It was a well played first set by both teams, but Grand View was able to pull away at the end of the game taking the first set 24-26. The Spartans committed nine errors and a hitting percentage of just .111.
Grand View continued to put the Spartans on their heels in the second set. Missouri Baptist tried to go on a run, but the Vikings had an answer nearly every time. GVU was able to take the second set 23-25. Grand View had a kill advantage of 9-16.
The Spartans came alive in the third set, leading the way was Jonathan Roldan. The senior had 21 kills, helping the team gain some momentum. Missouri Baptist was able to battle the entire third set and won 27-25, getting the crowd back into the game. It was a dominating performance in the fourth set for MBU, as the team never felt the pressure from the Vikings, taking the set 25-20, forcing a final game.
In the fifth set, the Spartans came out with a lot of energy, feeding off the crowd noise. The team committed just four errors and held Grand View to just five kills. The Spartans went on for the 15-12 set and match win.
Senior Sam Platt had a strong game with 11 kills and six digs. Another senior Zach Zeris played well, having seven kills and a game high .462 hitting percentage. Robert Esser chipped in 46 assists and 10 digs.
The team now will be on the road throughout the month of March. The Spartans first stop is at Pfeiffer University on March 2nd at 7:00 p.m.
