ST. LOUIS -- [BOX SCORE] Despite a 12-day gap between matches, the Spartans showed little rust in their return to the court Wednesday night. No. 2 Missouri Baptist swept No. 9 Missouri Valley (25-20, 25-19, 25-23) to record its 20th win of the season.
MBU (20-2) hadn't played since March 10th against Dordt. They returned to form quickly, hitting a strong .455 in set one. The Vikings (13-11) took the first point of the set, but never led again. The lead stood comfortably for the Spartans throughout, as they maintained a four to six point edge. Three of the Spartans final six points were kills from senior Mico Janicijevic. Janicijevic once again led MBU in kills with 13 on 29 swings.
Missouri Valley tied the game five different times in set two. However, the Spartans stood firm and never allowed the home team to take a lead. Luka Cajic took over midway through the set, recording three straight kills for MBU. The streak turned a 9-7 lead to a 12-9 advantage.
The home team trimmed the deficit to 19-17 down the stretch, but a kill from Mico Janicijevic upped the advantage to three once again. Cajic finished just behind Janicijevic with 10 kills.
Missouri Valley didn't go down quietly. The third and final set featured 18 ties and four lead changes. Neither team led by more than three points. MBU controlled early, leading 13-10 after a block from Cajic and Donald Flemming. Cajic recorded a team-high six blocks for the game.
The Vikings then proved they had some life in them and rattled off five straight points to take a 15-13 lead. The lead was their first since scoring the match's first point. The Spartans continued to claw back and a kill from Cajic broke a 19-19 tie to help MBU regain the lead. MoVal would lead again at 22-21, but two late kills by Janicijevic and a service error helped the navy and white survive 25-23.
Daniel Prada finished with six kills, while Cam Hibbler posted four on five attempts. Kyle Foley recorded 34 assists. Prada and Cajic led defensively with five digs each. The Spartans welcome Quincy University Friday night at 7pm.
