ST. LOUIS – The number two-ranked Missouri Baptist men's volleyball team took care of business Tuesday night against the visiting eighth-ranked Missouri Valley Vikings defeating them 3-1.
The first set did not start out the way that the Spartans had hoped. Missouri Valley jumped out to the early 7-2 lead and forced head coach John Yehling to call a timeout and get the Spartans back on track. MBU battled back to tie the game at 15 before going on to win the set 25-23. Gustavo Cintro had seven kills and a .500 attack percentage in the set. As a team, MBU had a .346 attack percentage while holding the Vikings to only a .227 attack percentage.
The second set started out much like the first for MBU. The Vikings built up an 11-7 lead causing the Spartans to call a timeout and turn things back around. It was a back and forth game all the way to the finish, but the Spartans took control of the game and won 26-24. Robert Esser had 12 assists in the set and the MBU defense held the Vikings to a .077 attack percentage.
Missouri Baptist did not jump out to an early lead in set one or two and third set looked just like the first two. The Vikings had a 7-2 before MBU called a timeout to regroup. The Spartans trailed 20-21 when the Vikings took a timeout before taking the set 25-22 to force a fourth set. Missouri Valley had a .417 attack percentage in the set.
Missouri Valley looked like they wanted to make the comeback, but the Spartans proved to be too much to handle in the fourth and final set. Both teams battled back and forth before the Spartans built out a 23-20 lead late in the game forcing the Vikings to take a timeout and see if they could change their luck. The luck was on the side of Missouri Valley Tuesday night as MBU went on to win the set 25-22.
Cintron led the way for the Spartans with 22 kills and a .400 attack percentage. Danny Traylor added in nine kills and four digs. NAIA Libero of the week, Danny Gruszczyk had 12 digs in the match.
MBU has now won seven straight games and moves to 11-2 on the season and 4-1 in the MAMVIC West. The Spartans will travel to Iowa this weekend for two conference matchups. MBU will play Grand View University on Friday, March 8 at 7 p.m. On Saturday, March 9 Missouri Baptist will take on Graceland University at 12 p.m.
