DAVENPORT, Iowa. - With Missouri Baptist just one win away from the championship game at Nationals, the team ran into a tough St. Ambrose team. The Fighting Bees swept the Spartans for the 0-3 win, ending the teams' season.
It was all about making a statement in the first set for Missouri Baptist. The Fighting Bees, however, wanted to protect their home floor in front of over 1,000 fans. St. Ambrose jumped out to an early 10-15 lead, after a kill by Dan Dowjotas. The Spartans were playing catch up for most of the game, and their hard work paid off.
The team was able to tie the game up at 22-22, after an attack error by St. Ambrose. The Spartans were gifted with another error by the Fighting Bees, taking a 23-22 lead. SAU battled and took the first set 23-25, after the Spartans committed two errors to end the set.
In set two, the Spartans continued to play from behind, but kept the SAU lead close enough and were able to tie the game up at 15-15 after a Jonathan Roldan kill. Roldan did what he could offensively totaling 10 kills on the afternoon and a .318 hitting percentage.
St. Ambrose didn't let the tie game bother them, as the Fighting Bees went on a 1-6 run to grab a 16-21 advantage over MBU. The Spartans got two kills from Sam Platt and one from Zach Zeris, trying to narrow down the lead. St. Ambrose stayed strong for the 19-25 win, taking a commanding 0-2 lead into the third set.
The team wasn't going to let a 0-2 deficit phase them. After again battling throughout the set, the Spartans were able to take a 19-18 lead after a kill by Sam Platt. Missouri Baptist committed three straight errors, giving St. Ambrose new life and a 19-21 lead. Gustavo Cintron narrowed the lead down to one after a kill, but it wasn't enough as St. Ambrose held on for the 22-25 set and match win.
Cintron led the team in kills with 13 and added a game high in digs with eight. Sam Platt added nine kills, with a hitting percentage of .381. Robert Esser added 35 assists and was second on the team in digs with seven.
The Spartans season comes to a close with a final record of 17-15, as the team did an outstanding job this year. Missouri Baptist will be also be losing key seniors Abel Castillo, Steve Greaves, Josh Hicks, Sam Platt, Jonathan Roldan and Zach Zeris. The team will look forward to building off this season, and getting back to Nationals next year.
