ST. LOUIS- - [BOX SCORE] No. 15 ranked Missouri Baptist Women's Volleyball went up against their biiter rival Columbia College on Friday night and came away with a dominant three-set victory (25-18, 25-22, 25-20). 

With revenge on their mind from last year's National Championship, the Spartans were the better team from start to finish. They came out firing in set one. A kill from freshman Kelly Wilson put MBU up 9-4 early and they didn't look back from there. The Spartans led by as many as eight and strolled to a 25-18 first set victory.

Columbia stepped their game in set two but it wasn't enough. The frame went back and forth until Cate Cigarini took charge at 18-18. The Italian delivered two thunderous kills to help MBU break away. Marion Couraud delivered the final blow to send Missouri Baptist to the third set up 2-0.

The Spartans knew they had Columbia wounded at that point and aimed to end it in straight sets. They did exactly that with a 25-20 victory. Senior Mallory Dillon, a key contributor on last year's squad that finished runner-up, delivered the finishing kill to trigger an eruption in Lacey Gymnasium.

For the second straight match, Tina Medanovic (12) and Mallory Dillon (11) led the Spartans in the kills department. Cate Cigarini and Marion Couraud (eight kills each) were also huge, as was Kelly Wilson (4).  After the match, Head Coach Chris Nichols noted the complete team effort.

"We got contributions from everywhere tonight. Our outside hitters had 23 kills and our middle hitters had 20. That's as balanced as you can get."

Nichols also lauded the play of setter, Megan Huffman.

"Megan was awesome for us. Our game is centered around her. When she's passing well, the game becomes easy for the rest of our team."

Huffman came into the night as the nation's leader in assists per game (13.100). She added 37 on Friday to cement her status as one of the best setters in the country.

On defense, in another testament to the complete team effort, every Spartan that touched the floor recorded at least one dig. Natalie Gremaud led the way with 14.

The win improved MBU's record to 18-4 overall and 7-0 in conference play.

Missouri Baptist will travel to Columbia on Tuesday of next week, October 4, to take on Stephens College. 

They'll return home for the Spartan Invitational next weekend, October 7 and 8. Some strong competition is expected to visit Lacey Gymnasium. The Spartans will battle The Masters College (14-5 overall) on Friday afternoon at 4:00. They'll play two matches on Saturday, starting with Grand View (12-4) at 2:00 and Lindsey Wilson (15-1) at 4:00.