ST. LOUIS – In the first game back from spring break, the number three-ranked Missouri Baptist men's volleyball team earned a hard fought 3-2 victory against NCAA DII rival the Lindenwood Lions.
The Spartans came out strong in set one. They jumped out to a 13-6 lead and forced the Lions to call a timeout. The momentum kept rolling for MBU as they went on to win the set 25-14. Robert Esser had 11 assists and Gustavo Cintron had four kills and a percent 1.000 attack percentage in the match. MBU had a .611 attack percentage as a team.
MBU continued the solid play in the second set getting out to a 5-0 early lead, but the Lions were not going down without a fight. Lindenwood battled back to tie the game at 7-7. It was back and forth for the remainder of the set, until the Spartans took control late. MBU took a 21-17 lead and forced the Lions to call a timeout. The Spartans came out of the timeout strong and put away the Lions 25-19 on a big service ace by outside hitter Danny Traylor. Traylor had three service aces in the set. MBU played their best defensive set of the match by holding the Lions under a positive hitting percentage.
In the third set, the Spartans looked to put the Lions away and end the match. Both teams battled back and forth until MBU took control and pulled out to a 16-11 lead. Lindenwood fought back to cut the lead to just three, 17-14 and forced Spartans head coach John Yehling to call a timeout and refocus the minds of his players.
The Lions were not going down easy and fought the game to a 20-20 tie and tried to keep their hopes alive and reach a fourth set. Both teams continued to trade points back and forth until Yehling called a timeout when the Lions took a 23-22 lead. Lindenwood worked MBU all the way to the end and took the set 25-23.
The fourth set was the closest of the night with neither team gaining larger than a two point lead at any point in the match. It was a tough battle the whole way through. The game was tied at 19 when Yehling called a timeout to try and change the flow of the game for MBU. The Spartans and Lions continued to trade points until the end, when the Lions had the two point lead and took the game 25-23 and forced a fifth and final set. It was the best game for the Lions who had a .321 attack percentage in the set.
The fifth set started out with both teams trading points back and forth and neither team being able to build much of a lead until MBU decided to step up and built a 10-6 and tried to put the Lions away for good. MBU took control of the match and put the Lions away 15-10 to take the set and the match 3-2.
Traylor, from Edinburgh, Scotland, had 14 kills and six service aces in the match. Cintron had 16 kills and Esser had a total of 55 assists in the match. MBU had a .387 attack percentage while holding the Lions to a .261 attack percentage.
With the win, the Spartans move to 15-4 on the season and remain 6-1 in the MAMVIC West. They continue the busy week with another home match Thursday night against conference opponent the Hannibal-LaGrange Trojans. The first serve in the Carl and Deloris Petty SRC is set for 7:00 p.m.
