ST.LOUIS- The Spartans continued their win streak tonight against Warner University, with a 3-2 victory. It was a battle back and forth, but the Spartans were able to pull out the win, led by freshman outside hitter, Mico Janicijevic.
The first set of the match was a great indicator of what the entire duration would have in store. MBU and WU battled point for point, until the set ended with a Spartan victory of 32-30. Janicijevic contributed four kills and four digs.
Set two was another closely fought set as WU never lead by more than four points at any time. Offensively, the Spartans were able to improve from their game one attacking percentage to .429, however, WU's attacking percentage was .467. WU also out-blocked the Spartans, doubling their number of blocks. The Spartans were led offensively by Janicijevic and senior, Clayton Baker, each contributing four kills. Danny Gruszczyk led the Spartans back row on serve-receive with 12 attempts and zero errors. WU pulled out the win, 25-21.
The Spartans were able to bounce back and pull out a set three victory, 25-20. Junior Kevin Knight led the way with four kills on seven swings, with zero errors for the Spartans. MBU was able to drastically lower the number of service errors committed in set three compared to previous sets.
Warner came back, again, to win the fourth set. In this one, Warner's defense is what defeated the Spartans. Warner had 12 digs compared to the Spartan's nine, along with four and a half blocks compared to the Spartans two.
The Spartans came through in set five with a 15-9 win. The Spartan defense single-handedly defeated Warner. MBU had nine kills, compared to Warner's two. Janicijevic and Knight each contributed two aces.
The Spartans had three players end the night with double-digit kills: Janicijevic (17), Baker (14), and Sean Benedict (10). The Missouri Baptist offense was lead by the outstanding play of Robert Esser. The senior contributed 57 assists, averaging 11.4 assists/set for the night. Warner's defense statistics were better than MBU's on the night, with 13.5 blocks compared to the home team's eight and 43 Royals' digs compared to 38.
MBU improves to 3-0 with the victory, while Warner drops to 0-1. The Spartans return to the court Tuesday, January 28 in Lebanon, Ill. to take on the Bearcats of McKendree University.
