SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The struggles for the No. 4-ranked Missouri Baptist University women's volleyball team carried over into Friday at the Evangel Preseason Classic. Still without several key contributors in the lineup, the Spartans were swept for the second straight match, falling to University of Mobile, 27-25, 25-21, 25-19.
 
Seven years have passed since MBU experienced a three-match losing streak. One would have to go back even further to 2008 for the last time that the Spartans opened the year with three straight losses.
 
The Spartans will look to rebound next week with six matches on the road in Miami, Fla., including four as a part of the St. Thomas University Volleyball Classic. Their road trip begins on Thursday, Aug. 22 with a doubleheader against Florida National University and Florida Memorial University.
 
Missouri Baptist got off to a quick start in Friday morning's match taking a 7-3 lead behind kills from Caterina Cigarini, Ariana Macies and Lisanne van Houwelingen. The Spartans' four-point advantage faded with eight straight points from the Rams. Following the big run by Mobile, Missouri Baptist reclaimed the lead and kept it until the two teams were knotted at 23-all. MBU had set point at 24-23, but couldn't close the deal.
 
The Spartans played from behind most of Set 2 and eventually evened things at 19-19 off of a Megan Williams kill, however, Mobile once again pulled away late scoring four of the last five rallies.
 
In the third and final frame, Missouri Baptist was unable to gain much traction besides a mini run in the beginning of the set. Meanwhile, the Rams staged a stretch of their own midway through Set 3 and traded points the rest of the way to fend off the Spartans.
 
With comparable team stats throughout, Mobile played with fewer errors to pull off the upset. The Rams hit .248 with 42 kills and 11 errors, while the Spartans hit just .133 with 38 kills and 20 attack errors.
 
Offensively, Missouri Baptist was led by the trio of newcomers – Carlee Wise, Giovanna Tapigliani and Marina Sanches – who had eight kills apiece. Freshman Carlee Wise registered the highest hitting percentage with a .385 clip.
 
Defensively, the Spartans had four blocks at the net, while Kasia Kaiser and Ariana Macies were extremely efficient passing with 24 and 20 digs, respectively.