MIAMI, Fla. – After an 0-3 start to the season last week, No. 4-ranked Missouri Baptist University women's volleyball got back to its winning ways Thursday with a pair of straight-set wins over Florida National University and Florida Memorial University.
 
The Spartans coasted to a 25-15, 25-9, 25-17 sweep of Florida National before defeating Florida Memorial in the nightcap by a score of 25-22, 25-17, 25-19. With the pair of wins, MBU improves to 2-3 overall heading into this weekend's St. Thomas University Volleyball Classic.
 
Against Florida National, the Spartans brought their 'A' game offensively and defensively, creating problems for the Conquistadors in the first and second sets. FNU combined for just 7 kills in Sets 1 and 2, while committing 12 attack errors for a negative hitting percentage (-0.076). On the flip side, Missouri Baptist came out firing on all cylinders with 10+ kills in each set. The Spartans put down 17 kills in the first set alone and held a 41-16 advantage on the day.
 
Leading the way for Missouri Baptist in Thursday's opener was the Mineral Area College trio of Katie Duncan, Isidora Stojovic and Raylyn Dodd. The former Mineral Area standouts made their presence known in their season debuts combining for 26 kills and a .355 hitting percentage as a group. Stojovic logged a double-double with a match-high 12 kills and 10 digs, while Duncan and Dodd each had seven kills apiece. Dodd hit .400 with 7 kills on 10 attempts.
 
Other statistical leaders for the Spartans in the Florida National match were sophomore setter Morgan Berry with 27 assists (13.5 a/s) and junior libero Ariana Macies, who paced the team with 18 digs (9 d/s).

There was little down time for the Spartans as they trekked 30 minutes down the road to Florida Memorial.
 
MBU jumped out to a comfortable seven-point lead at 12-5 and maintained the margin all the way to 22-15 before a late run by the host squad. The Lions put together a five-point run to narrow the Spartans' lead to 22-20, but couldn't pull off the upset in MBU's 25-22 set win.
 
2018 NAIA First-Team All-American Caterina Cigarini came alive in the second set. The 6-4 middle blocker from Modena, Italy registered three kills and one block assist in the Spartans' 6-2 advantage over the Lions. Katie Duncan and Raylyn Dodd finished what Cigarini started by closing out the 25-17 Set 2 victory with the Spartans' final six points on six kills.
 
Florida Memorial challenged the Spartans in the third set tying the game at 10-10, however, a string of FMU errors and MBU capitalizing on the mistakes led to an 18-11 advantage for the visitors. The Lions came roaring back with seven points in eight rallies to bring it within one at 20-19. Wanting to leave with another sweep, Missouri Baptist stymied Florida Memorial's comeback attempt and rattled off five straight points to secure the victory.
 
Duncan led all hitters with 12 kills and ended with a .375 hitting clip and 8 digs. Cigarini and Stojovic both tallied eight kills in the win over Florida Memorial. Ariana Macies once again led the way passing with 13 digs, while Stojovic wasn't too far behind with 11 digs.
 
Setter Morgan Berry averaged an impressive 11.33 assists/set for the match.
 
The Spartans have another quick turnaround as they play a 9 a.m. (ET) match against the St. Thomas Volleyball Classic host followed by a 1 p.m. (ET) match against Keiser. Matches at the STU Volleyball Classic are expected to have both live stats and live video at the following link: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/stu/.