ST. LOUIS – [Box Score] For the first time since 2006, the Missouri Baptist women's volleyball team defeated Columbia College in the regular season, 3-1 (20-25, 26-24, 25-18, 25-15). The Spartans improved to 17-1 and 4-0 in AMC play after upsetting the No. 7 team in the country.
No. 18 Missouri Baptist stayed unbeaten in conference play, battling in front another deafening crowd of 803 fans. "The crowd," said head coach Chris Nichols. "Wow. They were unbelievable once again. It was hard to talk to the team during timeouts because of how loud it was. They did and will continue to make it hard for other teams to come and play us at home."
The Spartans hit .208 in the contest, pounding 56 kills on 147 swings. Three different MBU spikers recorded double-digit kills.
"The passing was superb and kept us in system all night," said Nichols. "That all starts with Haley (Pouliezos) and Molly (DeClue)."
Sophomore Mallory Dillon led the squad with 16 kills on 42 swings. She also recorded six digs and one block assist.
Freshman Kristina Medanovic had an outstanding night, blasting 15 kills on 26 swings and posted an attack percentage of .462. She had a solo block and two block assists.
"Our all around play was great, but I was really impressed with our middles," said Nichols. "Kristina (Medanovic) and Jen (Brendel) set us up the entire match." Brendel posted eight kills and six block assists.
Junior Taylor Cook posted ten kills on 32 swings. She had 13 digs and two block assists.
Junior Ally Krus had no shortage of presents in the contest, as she posted 51 assists over the four sets. Krus recorded seven digs and four block assists.
Junior Haley Pouliezos recorded 22 digs in the contest to lead the Spartans.
The first set featured a lot of drama, as one team matched the other team's moves. MBU trailed 12-11 before the Cougars went on an 8-4 run to take a 20-15 lead. The Spartans would cut the deficit to 22-20, but Columbia ended the set with three straight kills to win 25-20. The Spartans never led in the set, but ramped up its play in set two.
Jen "Magic" Brendel got the Spartans off on the right foot in set two with back-to-back kills. The lead would never diminish, but the Cougars would come back to tie the set three different times. The two teams would later battle back-and-forth, trading points 13 times in a row.
Columbia worked its way back to a 23-23 tie, but Mallory Dillon missiled a ball past the back row to give MBU a 24-23 lead. After the Cougars tied the set at 24-24, Dillon fired another ball that could not be returned. With another set point at hand, junior Taylor Cook and Jen Brendel teamed-up for a block that would give the Spartans the victory, 26-24.
Set three was the turning point of the match after the score was tied 4-4. The Spartans went on an 8-2 run to take a 12-6 lead, a lead in which they never looked back on.
Columbia was able to cut the deficit to 17-14, but the Spartans exploded for an 8-1 run to win the set, 25-15. Kristina Medanovic sparked the momentum with three kills and two blocks over the final eight points.
In set four, the Spartans trailed 12-10, forcing head coach Chris Nichols to take a timeout. That proved to be just what MBU needed, as the Spartans rallied to tie the set at 15-15. Missouri Baptist scored the next two points to take a 17-15 lead, but the Cougars could not be put down. Columbia cut the MBU lead two different times, but the Spartans came out on time one final time, 19-17.
Missouri Baptist scored seven of the final eight points of the contest, exploding the packed house out of their seats. MBU won the decisive set, 25-18.
The navy and white will look to continue its momentum on Friday, when they host Stephens College at 7 pm.
