ST.LOUIS- Tonight the Missouri Baptist Spartans and the Bearcats of McKendree met for the second time this season.  In the previous matchup, MBU defeated McKendree 3-0 on the Bearcats innagural home opener.  The match tonight had a similar story.

MBU set the tone for the night in the first set.  The Spartan offense, led by Shane Welch and Mico Janicijevic, proved to be too much for the Bearcats to handle.  Missouri Baptist defeated McKendree 25-17.  

The second set showed how much fight the Bearcats had in them.  The team of freshman played a close set with the much more experienced Spartans. However, MBU won set two, 25-23.

The Spartans gained an early control of the third set with a 6-0 run, forcing McKendree's head coach, Nicki Sanlin, to call a timeout. The Bearcats were never able to gain any momentum, however. Crowd favorite, Davardo Rolle, entered the match and added a quick kill and block to help the Spartans close out the match with a 25-11 victory. 

Janicijevic, once again, led the Spartans.  He compiled 10 kills along with 4 aces. Welch had five kills on seven swings for an impressive attack percentage of .714.  Robert Esser controlled the offense, averaging 11 assists per set.  The senior added seven digs and two blocks.  Danny Gruszczyk guided the Spartans defense, as he contributed 15 digs.  The Bearcats were led by outside hitter Dustin Borestein with seven kills. 

Tonight's win improves MBU to 8-1 on the season. McKendree falls to 1-12.  No. 3 Missouri Baptist returns to the court again tomorrow, as they travel to Parkville, Miss. to take on the No. 4 Pirates of Park University. First serve is set for 6pm at the Breckon Sports Center on Park University's campus.