ST. LOUIS – The Missouri Baptist men's volleyball team dominated the visiting Hannibal-LaGrange Trojans 3-1 on Thursday night. With the victory, MBU improves to 16-4 on the season and 7-1 in the MAMVIC West conference.
The Spartans jumped out to a strong start over the Trojans. MBU built up an 11-5 lead and looked to put them away early. The Trojans called a timeout trailing 14-7 to change the momentum, but it was too much to come back from as MBU took set one 25-17. It was the best defensive game of the match, as the Spartans held the Trojans to under a positive hitting percentage while MBU had a .370 hitting percentage.
The second set was the closest of the night. Both teams battled back and forth and had the game tied at 10 when the Spartans stepped up and took control of the set. MBU built up a 16-11 lead when the Trojans called a timeout and stopped the Spartans run. The Trojans worked the game to a 18-18 tie and forced MBU head coach John Yehling to call a timeout and refocus his players. It was a tough battle right to the end but the Spartans came out on top with a 29-27 win.
In the third set of the match, the Spartans continued to dominate the Trojans in every part of the game. However, the Trojans were not going down without a fight. Hannibal-LaGrange had a 21-20 lead late in the game when MBU took a timeout to change the momentum, but luck was not on their side. The Trojans won the set 25-21. MBU only had a .063 hitting percentage in the set while Hannibal-LaGrange hit .300.
MBU decided to turn the game back in their favor in the fourth and final set. The Spartans built up a 21-14 lead when the Trojans called a timeout to see if they could extend the game, but the fourth set was all MBU. Missouri Baptist went on to win the set 25-14 and the match 3-1. The Spartans had an impressive .579 hitting percentage and held the Trojans to a .174 hitting percentage in the set.
Robert Esser had 48 total assists and a .333 hitting percentage in the match. Clayton Baker had 15 kills and Danny Traylor added 14 kills for the match.
The Spartans are right back in action tomorrow night as they host the undefeated and number one-ranked Park Pirates. It is senior night and the final home game of the year for MBU. First serve is set for 6:00 p.m. in the Carl and Deloris Petty SRC.
