ST. LOUIS – [LCS BOX SCORE] [LWC BOX SCORE] The Missouri Baptist women's volleyball team came out of day one at the Hampton Inn Volleyball Classic with a pair of wins against No. 27-ranked Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) and No. 7-ranked Lindsey Wilson College (Ky.) on Friday.
MBU started with a bang and only notched three errors as a team in the first set of the day and held the Warriors to a 0.195 hitting percentage.
The balanced attack by Taylor Cook, Mallory Dillon, and Hannah Carey from the pins proved fruitful for a 25-18 set one win.
Missouri Baptist continued a strong attack from outsides Dillon and Cook in set two with six kills apiece for an average attack percentage of 0.438.
Although Lewis-Clark State tried to force the Spartans hand, the team got the stop they needed and gained the two point advantage for a 26-24 win.
The Warriors did not hold back in the third set and did what no other team has been able to do thus far in the season and took a set from MBU.
Missouri Baptist came out fighting in set four as Cook fired off three service aces in a row and gave MBU the advantage.
The set remained close but with two big blocks by Kristina Medanovic the momentum shifted back to the Spartan side of the court. MBU held the Warriors to a negative hitting percentage in game four as they finished off the Warriors 25-12.
The second match of the day Missouri Baptist faced its highest ranked opponent thus far this season, No. 7-ranked Lindsey Wilson College.
Prior to playing MBU, the Blue Raiders took down the defending national champion Park University and handed the Pirates their first loss in over a year.
MBU struggled to find its rhythm through the first set and fell 16-25.
With a boost of energy, Missouri Baptist was back in the game. A 25-22 set win for the Spartans put them back on course.
Lindsey Wilson, however, did not stop there as they yet again challenged Missouri Baptist. Though MBU kept it close, it was unable to capture the set three victory.
The Spartans were not finished as they marched back into battle and came out on top.
Missouri Baptist won a five set thriller (16-25, 25-22, 22-25, 25-21, 19-17) with Cook leading the way as she set a new career-high of 26 kills. Cook also posted three sevice aces, 15 digs, two solo blocks and two block assists in the match.
Dillon also tallied 20 kills and 10 digs of her own. The pair of outsides combined for a total of 77 kills in two matches.
Setter Ally Krus led the offense with a total of 106 assists, averaging 11.78 assists per set on the day. Libero Haley Pouliezos contributed 48 digs on the day averaging 5.33 digs per set.
The Spartans will take the court again on Saturday for day two of the Hampton Inn Volleyball Classic to face No. 4-ranked Viterbo and No. 19-ranked Wayland Baptist.
