PARKVILLE, Mo. – [BOX SCORE] Missouri Baptist women's volleyball struggled from the outset of Wednesday evening's AMC grudge match in the suburbs of Kansas City. Park University capitalized on an inconsistent Spartan offense and defensive breakdowns in a 3-0-statement defeat of MBU.
It was a deafening Breckon Sports Arena on Wednesday evening and Missouri Baptist quickly remembered the difficult playing environment that Park University fans provide to its opponents. The Spartans dealt with adversity from the first serve of the first set and dug itself a 7-2 hole quickly, which the team was unable to crawl out from under.
Missouri Baptist hit a solid .259, but managed just nine kills and eight digs in the set. The Pirates, on the other hand, showed why it had a stranglehold on the AMC for much of the season. Park recorded a .500 attack percentage in the first set alone. Led by six kills and a perfect 1.000 attack percentage by Daniela Duarte, the home team cruised to a quick 25-12 win.
The second set looked like a different story early. MBU began the set with a quick 2-1 lead but fell behind 9-5 as Head Coach Chris Nichols called his first timeout. More of the same awaited the Spartans as the set continued. Duarte and professional Spartan slayer Lauren Purdy came up big for the home team. The duo combined for nine kills and four assisted blocks to take down Missouri Baptist 25-16.
Missouri Baptist looked to close the gap in the third set. The Spartans tied the match at six all early, and managed to keep it close all the way to the end. Park, tied with MBU at 20 late in the game, put together a clutch 6-4 run to take the third set 26-24.
Kayleigh Cox was the standout performer in the match for Missouri Baptist. The senior middle blocker recorded eight kills and an .615 attack percentage in the loss.
The Spartans will have just 48 hours to shake-off the loss as the team will head back out on the road for its final regular season match of the year against William Woods University. First serve is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on the campus of William Woods University
