Missouri Baptist fought back from a four-point deficit in set five to stun previously undefeated and No. 1 Park 3-2 Tuesday night.
The Spartans (13-2, 6-1) have now won 30 straight matches on their home floor, a streak that dates back to March 2015. Park (15-1, 5-1) trailed 2-0 before storming back. They led 9-5 in the deciding set, but the navy and white wouldn't quit.
Three consecutive kills from MBU senior Mico Janicijevic brought the Spartans within a point. Kyle Foley and Donald Flemming followed with a block to put the home team in front 10-9. The Spartans later trailed 13-11 before they put a wall up in front of the Park attack.
A kill from Daniel Prada and two consecutive blocks of Oscar Tuero and Jose Arteaga put MBU back in front 14-13. Park spoiled match point twice, but MBU finally rallied off two straight. Janicijevic posted his match-high 29th kill to give the Spartans a 16-15 advantage and the senior, alongside Cam Hibbler, blocked Tuero once again at the net to win in thrilling fashion 17-15.
Three of MBU's final five points were blocks and Hibbler was involved in all three of them. Janicijevic finished with 29 kills and 11 digs, while hitting a solid .305.
The Spartans were on their heels in the fifth set after dropping sets three and four. Park took a back-and-forth set three 25-21 and carried that momentum into a dominant 25-15 set four win. MBU fell behind in the third after leading 14-12 and never recovered. The Pirates led the entire way in set four to force the deciding set.
MBU hit a gaudy .500 (13 kills, three errors, 20 total attacks) in the opening set and .345 in set two. Kyle Foley ended his night with 61 assists and four block assists. Outside of Janicijevic, his main targets were Prada (15 kills) and Cajic (11 kills). Robert Hall had a monster day defensively with 23 digs. Hibbler had part in six total blocks to lead the team. The Pirates were led by Daniel Arteaga who posted 13 kills on 41 swings.
The Spartans head to Culver-Stockton on Friday to take on the Wildcats. First serve is set for 7:00 pm.
