Box Score ST. LOUIS – [Box Score] The Missouri Baptist women's volleyball team made the most out of a packed house in its home opener, as the Spartans defeated Bethel, 3-0 (25-11, 25-17, 25-16).
No. 24 Missouri Baptist (5-0) took the floor in front of 723 rowdy fans and wasted no time pleasing the crowd. "I want to thank the football team, the lacrosse team, the baseball team and really all the athletic teams here at MBU," said head coach Chris Nichols. "That was huge motivation for our girls to play in front of a massive crowd like that. It is going to be tough to beat us in this building with the crowd that big."
Sophomore Mallory Dillon (St. Charles, Mo.), playing in her first home match of her Missouri Baptist career, took home the Player of the Game honors. She led the navy and white with 14 kills on 23 swings, recorded two service aces, four digs, and two block assists. "I am proud of the way Mallory played tonight in her first home match," said Nichols. "Her stats speak loud, but her leadership in other areas is what really stood out to me."
Sophomore Jen Brendel (St. Louis, Mo.) pounded a career-high 11 kills on 17 swings with no errors. She led the team with one solo block and five block assists. "Jen has been very consistent for us over the first five matches," said Nichols. "Tonight was no different."
Junior Hana Carey (West Sussex, England) filled the stat sheet over the three sets. She recorded nine kills, one assist, one service ace, two digs, and three block assists.
In set one, MBU would jump out to a 5-1 lead, which forced the Lady Wildcats to call a timeout. That would not slow down the Spartans, as they extended the lead to 11-2, thanks to two kills and an ace from Mallory Dillon.
The Spartans would bust the set wide-open when they took a 24-9 lead and would later win set one, 25-11. Missouri Baptist posted 15 kills on 21 swings for an attack percentage of .619. The Lady Wildcats hit a dismal -0.043.
Set two started of very even, as the two squads worked to a 10-10 tie before MBU took over. Mallory Dillon's kill to make it 11-10 would give the Spartans the lead for good.
Missouri Baptist used a 6-0 run to extend the lead to 19-12, which propelled them to a victory. The Lady Wildcats made a minimal comeback with the scoring holding at 23-17, but the Spartans would chalk up the final two points to secure the win. The home team hit .357 in the set, and posted 15 kills on 28 swings.
In the final set, Bethel held an early 7-6 lead, but the Spartans went on a massive 14-3 run to take a 20-10 lead. The Wildcats cut the deficit to 21-16, but a long rally on the next serve that was won by the Spartans proved to be the finishing blow. Missouri Baptist won the final set, 25-16.
Missouri Baptist, who is idle this weekend, will host College of the Ozarks on September 3rd before playing on the road for nearly an entire month. The Spartans play 11 road matches during that span.
