ST. LOUIS – [Box Score] After breezing through the first two matches of the American Midwest Conference Tournament, the Missouri Baptist women's volleyball team ran into the most dangerous team in the NAIA. The undefeated Park Pirates swept the Spartans, 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-21), to claim the AMC Tournament Championship.

The Spartans will now wait for the decision by the NAIA selection committee to see the next turn in the road to the National Championship. Missouri Baptist, which ranks No. 6 in the NAIA, is all but guaranteed a spot in Sioux City, Iowa.

No. 6 Missouri Baptist (34-3) hit a season-low .064 in the contest, posting 30 kills and 23 errors on 110 swings. The Spartans held No. 2 Park (34-0) to its lowest hitting percentage in 33 matches with a .184 mark. The Pirates posted 37 kills and 19 errors on 98 swings.

Sophomore Mallory Dillon led the Spartans with 12 kills and six errors on 32 attacks. She added a double-double after recording 10 digs.

Junior Ally Krus posted a team-high 34 assists in the contest and tallied nine digs. Krus added a kill and one block assist.

In the first set, the Spartans were limited to just a .088 attack percentage. They were forced to play catch-up from the first serve. After Park built a 12-8 lead, the Spartans worked the set back to just a 12-10 deficit.

Head coach Chris Nichols was forced to call a timeout after the Pirates went on a 6-1 run, which extended their lead to 18-11.

Later in the set, Hannah Carey slammed a kill to cut the Park lead to 22-18, but the Pirates scored the final three points to win, 25-18.

Several runs by both teams began the second set. Park held a 9-5 lead, but the Spartans roared back to tie the set at 10-10, thanks to kills by Kristina Medanovic, Mallory Dillon, and Jen Brendel.

The Pirates then went on a furious 8-1 run, which proved to be the difference-maker in the set. That put Park on top, 18-11, forcing coach Nichols to try and stop the momentum.

Missouri Baptist chipped away at the deficit, and eventually cut the Park lead to 22-17. From that point, MBU seemed to swing the momentum, as they used kills by Brendel, Krus, and two by Dillon to cut the deficit to 24-22. Park won the set on an MBU service error.

The Spartans hit .167 in the set, while Park posted a .242 hitting percentage.

In the third set, MBU jumped out to a 10-9 lead, as Dillon fired three consecutive kills during that span. The lead by the Spartans forced Park head coach Mike Talamantes to call a timeout.

The Pirates responded by cooking-up a 7-1 run to take a 16-11 lead. The Spartans then answered back with a 4-1 run to cut the deficit to 17-15, forcing another timeout by Talamantes. That would be the closest the Spartans would get, as Park ended the set on top, 25-21.

The loss ended the Spartans chance at an AMC Tournament title by just one win. Missouri Baptist will now wait the decision from the NAIA selection committee to see when the next match will be. With the Spartans ranking No. 6 in the latest NAIA Top 25 Poll, MBU will most likely skip the Opening Round and head straight to Sioux City, Iowa.