ST. LOUIS – [BOX SCORE] After a rocky start, Missouri Baptist men's volleyball pulled out a 3-1 win over NCAA DII Lindenwood University at Hyland Performance Arena on Wednesday night.
Missouri Baptist (3-0, 1-0 AMC) struggled at the start as they were down to a four point deficit. As the Spartans inched their way back into the game they fell just short as the Lions and finished with a 25-22 set 1 win. Mico Janicijevic proved to be a pivotal piece in game one. The sophomore put up seven kills and a .500 hitting percentage.
MBU began the second set ready to play, though the lead went back and forth early. As things settled for the Spartans, Missouri Baptist went on a run and kept Kevin Knight at the service line to raise the Spartans to a 2 point lead.
The run was cut off as Lindenwood pushed back to regain the lead, but it did not hold. Shane Welch put a big kill down to give MBU a one-point, 24-23 lead. The Lions tied the score again but with a stuff block from Kyle Foley for set point, MBU fought to earn the 26-24 set two win. In the set Shane Welch put up a .429 hitting percentage with five kills on seven attacks.
Missouri Baptist fought for a match lead in the third set, but went down early as Lindenwood took a four point lead. It was Janicijevic, however, that ended the LU run with the kill on the outside. The Spartans rattled-off five straight points to tie the set and, after a pivitol side, out Kevin Knight returned to the service line for a four point run.
LU came back again, cut the Spartan lead and tied the score at 17-17. MBU, however, came back with on fire to close out the third set 25-22 with a stuff block from Mico Janicijevic.
The Spartans stayed hot in the final set of the match. MBU took an early lead thanks in large part to the 6'10" middle blocker, Welch. The senior a wall at the net held for two consecutive blocks and forced the Lions to call a timeout.
Lindenwood returned to the court after the break and found their footing. The Lions quickly closed the deficit to one, but the Spartans stopped the bleeding and took the final set 25-22.
Mico Janicijevic lead the Spartans with 18 kills on the night. Shane Welch ended the night with an impressive .412 hitting percentage having 12 kills on 17 attempts. Kyle Foley also had a big night. The freshman ended the night with 37 assists.
The Spartans will be on the road again Friday, January 23, 2015 traveling to Quincy, Illinois, to face the Quincy University Hawks.
