The Spartans closed the St. Ambrose tournament this weekend with both a win and a loss.  The Spartans took on No. 5 Hope International University and No. 7 St. Ambrose.

No. 5 Hope International sat at 12-4 prior to the match against the Spartans.  Their losses this season were to NAIA No. 1 Concordia University- Irvine and NCAA opponent Grad Canyon University.  Junior outside, Dominique Blonski leads the Royals.  Blonksi earned last week's NAIA Player of the Week honors and leads his team in kills, digs, and aces. 

No. 7 St. Ambrose University sat at 17-7 prior to the match against MBU.  The Bees were defeated in the previous meeting with the Spartans.  St. Ambrose is led by opposite hitter, Ryan Mahl.  The St. Louis, Mo. Native leads the team in kills. 

In the first match, Missouri Baptist defeated the Royals of Hope International University 3-0.  The Spartans took the match 25- 18, 25-20, and 27-25.  Mico Janicijevic led the Spartans with 17 kills while Clayton Baker added 10.

The second St. Ambrose upset MBU 3-1.  MBU took set one 25-16, but then fell the following three sets 21-25, 23-25, and 19-25.  The Spartan offense was led by the combination of the outsides. Janicijevic and Baker.  Rob Esser added 42 assists and 12 digs.  The Bees had a very balanced attack from George Langheld, Jimmy Leyden, Nathan Royer, and Ryan Mahl.

Following this weekend's play, the Spartans sit at 15-5.  MBU has until Tuesday to regroup, before they play Holy Names College at home in the SRC Tuesday.  First serve is set for 7PM.