FULTON, Mo. – The No. 1-ranked Missouri Baptist University women's volleyball team opened up American Midwest Conference play with a 3-1 road win at William Woods on Tuesday evening. Behind the strong play of 2018 NAIA First-Team All-American Caterina Cigarini, the Spartans won by a score of 25-21, 19-25, 25-14, 25-21 at Anderson Arena.
 
Nearing the midway point of the regular season, Missouri Baptist (13-3) continues to take care of business winning its 13^th straight match. Head coach Chris Nichols and his Spartans handed William Woods its 10^th loss of the season and dropped the Owls to 8-10 overall. With Tuesday's victory, the Spartans have now won their last nine AMC openers dating back to 2011.
 
Both William Woods and MoBap had a strong presence at the net on Tuesday combining for 23 total blocks between the two teams. The Owls held a slight 13-10 advantage over the Spartans in the block party with WWU middles Hannah Kuehl and AMC block leader Jaclyn Zahn pacing the Owls with 7 and 5, respectively.
 
It was the Caterina Cigarini and Isidora Stojovic show in Set 1, with Cigarini accounting for 7 kills and 3 block assists, and Stojovic adding 4 kills, 2 block assists and a service ace. With the opening set tied at 21-all, Missouri Baptist broke away with four straight kills including two by Stojovic to win 25-21.
 
The tide turned in favor of the home team in the second set with the Owls leading by as much as five and keeping that edge for most of the way. The top-ranked Spartans got within two on two separate occasions, but were unable to overcome the negative hitting percentage (-.114) and 13 attack errors. William Woods evened the match with a 25-19 win in Set 2.
 
Following the break, Missouri Baptist regrouped and came out with vengeance. The Spartans jumped out to a large 8-1 lead where Caterina Cigarini was virtually unstoppable. The senior from Modena, Italy put down five kills in the Spartans' first six points and did so with authority. MBU ran away with the third set, 25-14, to go up 2-1.
 
The final set felt like a rollercoaster ride with six different lead changes as well as 11 ties. Each squad recorded a pair of four- and six-point runs, but following a 19-19 tie, the Spartans seized the lead on three consecutive attack errors by the Owls. Scoring three of MBU's final five points was redshirt-sophomore outside Katie Duncan with a pair of kills and a block with her former Mineral Area College teammate Raylyn Dodd.
 
Recently named AMC Attacker of the Week Isidora Stojovic remained a hot hand for the Spartans, collecting 13 kills, while Caterina Cigarini led all scorers with a match-high 18 kills on .533 hitting. On the night, Missouri Baptist held a 57-35 advantage in kills and .186-.100 in hitting percentage.
 
Two-time AMC Setter of the Week Morgan Berry set the Spartans to their 13^th straight win with 48 assists (12.0 a/s), 8 digs and a match-best two service aces. Libero Ariana Macies racked up 21 digs and also had two service aces in the win. The junior transfer from Iowa Western Community College has been averaging an impressive 6.07 digs per set during the past four matches.
 
Missouri Baptist returns to the Carl and Deloris Petty Sports & Recreation Complex on Thursday for a non-conference tilt with Ottawa University (Kan.). First serve is slated for 6 p.m. and will be streamed on the Spartan Digital Network.