ST. LOUIS – Missouri Baptist won a five-set battle against Friend University and dropped a five-set marathon to Cornerstone on Friday, as the Spartans ended the day 1-1 in the 2013 Spartan Invitational.
Missouri Baptist played what was, perhaps the best single game of the season thus far against Trinity International. The Spartans defeated the Trojans 25-4 as the team hit an impressive .480 attack percentage for the set.
Trinity International responded in the second set. The Trojans improved from a -.211 attack percentage as a team in the first set and posted 11 kills in the set. Missouri Baptist, however, continued to have its way with the TIU defense. The Spartans closed the second set with a .333 attack percentage in a 25-19 win.
MBU closed-out the third set quickly as well. The Spartans led by as many as 12 points and concluded the set with a 25-17 win.
It was a total group effort in the first set as MBU combined for 40 kills in the match and no one eclipsed the 10-kill mark. On the defensive side, the Spartans finished with 12 assisted blocks on the day as Kayleigh Cox led the charge with 3 block assists. Junior Molly DeClue and freshman Catie Ward both finished with 14 digs as well.
In the final match of the weekend, the Spartans took-on the No. 19-ranked Grand View Vikings and MBU continued its solid play from earlier in the day. The Spartans looked dominant at times and defeated GVU 3-0.
MBU was led in the match by Kayleigh Cox. The 6-1 middle from Freeburg, Ill. recorded 11 kills, two assisted blocks and a .471 attack percentage. Taylor Cook also added 11 kills while setter Ally Krus had 39 assists in the match.
After play ended, the All-Tournament Team was announced:
Samantha Stoller – Trinity International
Ciara Lawson – Friends University
Crystal Taporco – Friends University
Cailie Johnson(MVP) – Cornerstone University
Kim Weaver – Cornerstone University
Chelsea Lake – Cornerstone University
Taylor Cook – Missouri Baptist
Ally Krus – Missouri Baptist
Kayleigh Cox – Missouri Baptist
Kadie Subbert – Grand View University
Chrissy Daggett – Grand View University
Kelly Nakandakari – Grand View University
