ST. LOUIS – [BOX SCORE] Missouri Baptist stumbled out of the gate Thursday night against Morningside. Eventually, the No. 2 Spartans found their rhythm and defeated the Mustangs 3-1.

The Mustangs (5-16, 2-5) had a shortened pregame after arriving late to the match, forcing things to get started roughly 15 minutes late. The series of events favored the road team early. MBU (17-2, 8-1) had extra time to wait around and fell into an early 12-5 deficit once play began.

Morningside hit a team-best .208 in the first set. The Spartans fought all the way back to take their first lead at 23-22, but the Mustangs wouldn't back down. A service error tied the game and two kills from Oscar Alvarez Cancel gave the upset-minded Mustangs the set 25-23. Cancel finished the match with a team-high 12 kills.

Set two that went the Spartan way 25-22 was far from easy. MBU jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but once again Morningside didn't back down. They led in the second set 16-13 before Mico Janicijevic posted four straight kills to get the home team back in it. Janicijevic led MBU with 18 kills. Cameron Hibbler posted 13 on just 16 swings for a ridiculous .688 attack percentage. Luka Cajic was also in double-figures with 11 kills. Cajic posted a block to give MBU the set 25-22.

MBU finally found its groove in the final two sets. Set three was their best, one in which they hit .400 and posted 17 kills. A kill from Hibbler helped the Spartans jump out to a 17-9 lead and they cruised from there. Kills from Kyle Foley, Daniel Prada and an ace from Robert Hall ended things at 25-16.

The good times kept rolling as MBU started ahead 11-5 in the fourth set. However, this would be the largest lead of the set. Morningside fought back, but couldn't ever take a lead. Don Flemming ended the match with his seventh kill of the night. Like Hibbler, Flemming was also extremely efficient, posting seven kills on 10 swings.

Robert Hall had a strong day defensively with 18 digs. Foley had 52 assists in total and also recorded four service aces. The Spartans busy week continues as they welcome conference opponent Dordt for two matches tomorrow night. The first match will begin at 4 pm with the second match following about 20 minutes following the conclusion of the first. Both will be streamed online at SpartanDigitalNetwork.com.