ST. LOUIS – [BOX SCORE] Missouri Baptist held off Ottawa (Kan.) Saturday afternoon to win the Midwest Conference Tournament. The No. 1-seeded Spartans won both the regular season and conference tournament titles with a 3-1 victory over the No. 3-seeded Braves.
The Spartans (25-2, 11-1) won match number 20 in a row thanks to opening up a 2-0 lead. The navy and white had difficulty with Ottawa in the first set however, trailing virtually throughout.
The deficit stood at 20-18 until freshman Luka Cajic delivered back-to-back kills. The Serbian, who finished with 15, posted another terrific performance. The streak tied the match at 20-20. Later, with the set all square at 21, fellow Serbian Mico Janicijevic came up big. The final three MBU points were all Janicijevic kills, including the final point of the 25-21 win.
Cajic and Janicijevic were the two go-to guys for setter Kyle Foley. Each finished with 15 kills, while Foley totaled 46 assists.
MBU rode the momentum into a dominant 25-15 set two win. The Spartans hit a team-best .360 in the set and never trailed. A Cajic kill pushed the lead early on to 5-1 and they never looked back. Cajic also stood at the service line for seven straight MoBap points to push the lead to 14-4. Ottawa followed with a timeout, but never could get back in it.
All momentum headed in the Spartan direction going into set three. However, MBU knew Ottawa, fresh off a come-from-behind win over No. 2-seed Park on Thursday, wouldn't go down without a fight.
Back-to-back kills from Daniel Jacobs turned a tie game into a 9-7 Ottawa lead and the Braves didn't trail in the set again. Jacobs had eight kills in the third, one in which his team hit an absurd .615. Janicijevic, among others, tried their best to get back in it, but Ottawa had an answer for every MBU point. After cutting the gap to 23-21, the final two points went to the Braves.
With momentum swinging, MBU did a great job of bouncing back in the fourth. After the set stood tied at 10-10, the home team went on a 15-5 run to end it. A mini 3-0 spurt started things. Foley gave MBU the lead for good and after a block from Daniel Prada and Cam Hibbler, MBU led 13-10.
A timeout from Ottawa didn't stop the bleeding . MBU continued to cruise, pushing the lead to 10 by the final whistle. Prada finished the 3-1 win off with a kill. The senior finished with eight on 16 swings. Defensively, Robert Hall had a big day with a team-high 13 digs.
The Spartans now head into the NAIA Invitational that will be held at Missouri Baptist University for the third consecutive year. MBU will find out where they'll be in the field when it's announced Sunday night at 5pm. Stay tuned to mbuspartans.com for updates.
