SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The second day of Pool Play at the 2019 NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championship was much kinder to Missouri Baptist as the Spartans picked up the sweep over No. 20-ranked College of Saint Mary (Neb.) on Tuesday evening. After a marathon first set, the Spartans took care of business to defeat the Flames, 32-30, 25-18, 25-17.
 
Missouri Baptist improved to 33-5 overall and moved to 2-0 in Pool D. In addition, wiith a Grand View University win on Tuesday night over Texas Wesleyan University, the Spartans guaranteed themselves a spot in the Round of 16. With both teams sitting at 2-0 heading into tomorrow's match at ~6 p.m., the Spartans and Vikings will be vying for Pool D's top spot. It marks the sixth straight year that the Spartans have advanced to at least the Round of 16.
 
For the second straight night, senior middle blocker Caterina Cigarini was on top of her game leading the Spartans in kills with 13. Through two pool play matches, the probable four-time NAIA All-American is hitting .484 with 35 kills (4.37 k/s).
 
Set 1 was the definition of a back-and-forth set. In total, there were 18 ties with the last tie coming at the 30-30 mark. College of Saint Mary had its opportunities to put the set away with set point at 24-23, 28-27 and 30-29. Likewise, the Spartans had four different chances to snag the win before ending the never-ending set at 32-30. MBU ended the set with 21 kills.
 
The closely-contested match carried over into the second set, but MBU used a 6-1 run following a 10-10 tie to change the tide. With another upsurge (7-2), the Spartans pulled away from the Flames to take the set, 25-18.
 
No. 4-ranked Missouri Baptist finally figured out the Flames and began to shut them down offensively. CSM went from hitting .189 in the first set to .081 in the second.
 
With the momentum clearly in their favor, the Spartans dominated the third set. MBU had its best set offensively with 15 kills, a match-best .419 hitting percentage and just two attack errors. On the other side of the net, College of Saint Mary continued to fade with just 8 kills and a .077 attack percentage.
 
Joining Caterina Cigarini in double-digit kills was junior outside hitter Isidora Stojovic (10 kills, 6 digs, 2 blocks). After a shaky start to the National Championship on Tuesday, Marina Sanches and Giovanna Tapigliani rebounded nicely combining for 17 kills on .500 hitting and 8 blocks (2 solo, 6 assisted). Both contributed crucial kills to close out sets.
 
Sophomore Morgan Berry had an impressive showing at setter with 40 assists (13.33 a/s), eight digs and pair of kills off of dumps in the second set.
 
 Defensively, libero Ariana Macies helped keep the Spartans calm defensively and in system with 14 digs. Freshman outside hitter Lisanne van Houwelingen also reached double-digit digs for the second time this season with 10 on the day.