ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Missouri Baptist University women's volleyball recorded its 11
th sweep of the season on Friday defeating Williams Baptist University in front of a home crowd, 25-15, 25-20, 25-8. The top-ranked Spartans (16-3, 2-0 AMC) extended their winning streak to 16 and remain undefeated at the Carl and Deloris Petty Sports & Recreation Complex this season.
MBU overwhelmed the visiting Eagles with its high-flying offense, finishing the afternoon with a .418 hitting percentage and five players who hit above .400 with 5+ kills. The group that included
Caterina Cigarini,
Giovanna Tapigliani,
Lisanne van Houwelingen,
Raylyn Dodd and
Marina Sanches, combined for 45 of the team's 48 kills while hitting .526 collectively.
Despite four early kills to begin the match from defending AMC Attacker of the Week
Caterina Cigarini, Missouri Baptist got off to a bit of a rough start. The Spartans picked themselves back up with a six-point swing to go ahead 12-7 and gradually pulled away for a 25-15 opening-set win. Cigarini, who only played one set in the match, finished with 5 kills on 6 swings, while teammate
Lisanne van Houwelingen recorded 5 kills on 7 swings without an error. With Tapigliani, Sanches and
Brilee Henson chipping in eight, the Spartans held an 18-6 advantage in kills after Set 1.
Out of sync in the second set, Missouri Baptist allowed the Eagles to stick around longer than expected. At one point in the set, Williams Baptist (3-13, 1-2 AMC) took a 13-10 lead over the Spartans and the momentum was clearly swinging in favor of the Eagles. With senior
Megan Williams at the service line, MBU managed to score seven straight including two service aces from the Ironton, Mo. native. The Eagles didn't back down, tying the set at 19-19 and again at 20-all. The Spartans scored the final five points of the set for a 25-20 victory with a different player providing a spark. Junior middle hitter
Raylyn Dodd registered kills in three of the last four points to close out the set.
The third set was when it all came together for the NAIA's No. 1-ranked squad. Following a 2-2 tie, MoBap rattled off eight consecutive points behind the strong serving of
Natalie Hecht and the front-row presence of
Marina Sanches, who had an impressive solo block after back-to-back kills. Another big run where the Spartans scored 10 points in 11 rallies helped seal the deal. In dominant fashion, Missouri Baptist closed out the match with a 25-8 win in Set 3.
Outside of William Baptist freshman middle blocker Madison Lawson, who had a team-best 8 kills and .538 attack percentage, the Spartans were able to shut down the rest of the team, who combined for just 17 kills and a meager .026 hitting percentage.
Giovanna Tapigliani led all players with 14 kills (4.66 k/s) on .524 hitting.
Lisanne van Houwelingen and
Raylyn Dodd were next in line with nine kills and two block assists apiece.
Three-time AMC Setter of the Week
Morgan Berry put up big numbers on Friday tallying 41 assists (13.66 a/s), 6 digs and 1 service ace. NAIA National Defender of the Week
Ariana Macies was also stellar as usual with a match-high 18 digs (6.00 d/s), 2 service aces and 2 assists.
The Spartans turn right back around on Saturday morning to face AMC foe Freed-Hardeman University at 11 a.m.
