ST. LOUIS – A hot start Saturday morning helped propel No. 1-ranked Missouri Baptist University women's volleyball to its 17
th straight victory as the Spartans swept Freed-Hardeman University at home, 25-15, 25-21, 25-20. Winning the battle between two previously unbeaten teams in conference, Missouri Baptist improved to 17-3 overall and 3-0 in the AMC, while the Lions dropped to 10-6, 2-1 AMC.
Junior outside hitter
Isidora Stojovic scored early and often in the opening set, picking up six kills in the Spartans' first eight points. Paired with a service ace of her own and two
Morgan Berry aces, Missouri Baptist jumped out to a 10-4 lead. Following a slight run by FHU, the Spartans responded with six unanswered points and expanded the margin to nine at 20-11. In addition to holding the Lions to five kills and a .067 hitting percentage, MBU had its best set of the match offensively hitting .406 and recording 18 kills.
The two teams traded points in the earlygoing of Set 2 with Freed-Hardeman pulling ahead, 8-6. No. 1-ranked MBU turned things around scoring in nine of the next 10 rallies to go up 15-9. During that run, the Spartans had a block party stopping the Lions at the net on four separate occasions. Setter
Morgan Berry was in on three, while middles
Caterina Cigarini and
Marina Sanches both had two block assists as well. MBU kept its distance and held off a late push by the Lions to win Set 2 by a score of 25-21.
A gritty performance from Freed-Hardeman at the beginning of the third frame saw the Lions jump out to an 8-2 start. Head coach
Chris Nichols decided against calling a timeout to stop FHU's momentum and witnessed his Spartans stage a slow but steady comeback. MBU finally took its first lead of the Set No. 3 at the 15-14 mark thanks to a six-point run. Despite Freed-Hardeman pulling within one at 19-18, the Spartans held onto the lead the remainder of the contest and closed out the match with a 25-20 win.
Isidora Stojovic of Belgrade, Serbia, led the Spartans in kills for the second time in three matches. She finished the day the 14 kills, seven of which came in the first set, to go along with 7 digs, 3 blocks (1 S, 2 A) and 1 service ace. Reigning AMC Attacker of the Week had another efficient outing following yesterday's 5 kills on 6 swings. Cigarini posted 9 kills on 13 swings for another light's out hitting percentage of .615. The Modena, Italy senior also notched four blocks.
Morgan Berry made a strong case for her fourth AMC Setter of the Week selection with an all-around performance on Saturday versus the Lions. Berry registered a double-double and led the team in three statistical categories, while tying for the team lead in blocks with Cigarini. The sophomore setter totaled 37 assists (12.33 a/s), a team-best 10 digs and 2 service aces, along with 4 block assists.
As a team, the Spartans finished with a 45-22 advantage in kills, .273-.033 advantage in hitting percentage and 10-3 advantage in blocks. The Lions, who entered Saturday's match averaging a conference-leading 2.4 service aces/set, were limited to a 1.66 average, but beat out the Spartans in that category, 5-3.
Missouri Baptist will wrap up its three-game homestand on Tuesday when it welcomes Harris-Stowe State University to the Carl and Deloris Petty Sports & Recreation Complex. First serve for the match is set for 7 p.m.
