ST. LOUIS – [BOX SCORE] The No. 2 Missouri Baptist women's volleyball team defeated John Brown University (Ark.) 3-1 (25-14, 25-23, 24-26, 25-17) at the Bill George Arena on Wednesday.
The Spartans (29-3, 9-0) struck first blood as Mallory Dillon found the floor with a big kill from the outside. MBU remained in control all throughout the set as the team held the Golden Eagles to their lowest hitting percentage of the match (0.100) as well as lowest number of kills (5).
JBU jumped out to an early lead and held a two point advantage for most of the second set until Missouri Baptist tied the score at 22. MBU then went on a 3-1 run to close the set out with a kill off the hand of Hannah Carey. Although JBU recorded its highest hitting percentage of the match (0.275) it still wasn't enough to overcome Missouri Baptist.
John Brown kept the Spartans on their toes throughout set three with 10 ties and recorded 13 kills to Missouri Baptists 12. After MBU had captured the lead and was on its way to set point, the Golden Eagles went on a 7-1 run to take the set right out from under Missouri Baptist.
MBU regained control in set four and closed out the match with a kill from Kristina Medanovic. The Spartans recorded their highest hitting percentage (0.394) and number of kills (19) of the match in the final set.
Dillon, Carey and Ally Krus all notched a double-double on the night. Dillon led the offense with 16 kills and a new season-high of 13 digs. Carey followed with 13 kills and 10 digs. Krus fed the offense with 43 total assists and 11 digs. The setter recorded an impressive 14.3 assists per set as well as three kills and a hitting percentage of 0.429.
Taylor Cook and Medanovic also had a big night with 12 and 10 kills respectively. The Serbian native also recorded a career-high of seven service aces in the match.
Haley Pouliezos led the defense with 26 total digs for an average of 6.5 digs per set.
The Spartans will have a short break before returning to play in the American Midwest Conference as the team will travel to William Woods (Mo.) on Oct. 27 and No. 9 Park University (Mo.) on Oct. 29.
