ST. LOUIS – The past two weekends, Missouri Baptist University women's volleyball has more than made up for a slow start and has solidified its spot among the NAIA's top teams. With a 3-0 sweep of Tabor College and a 3-2 win over preseason No. 3 Grand View University on Friday, the Spartans have now won 11 straight including four over Top-10 opponents.
 
At 11-3 and sporting four Top-10 wins, No. 4-ranked Missouri Baptist will have strong case for remaining in the top-five when the next NAIA Women's Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 Poll comes out on Wednesday, September 11.
 
The Spartans came out firing on all cylinders in their straight-set victory over Tabor College. In the first-ever meeting between the two teams, Missouri Baptist had its way hitting above .400 in each set and finishing the match with a .486 attack percentage. The team played an extremely clean game committing just five attack errors on 72 total attempts.
 
The entire roster of 18 saw action against the Bluejays and each made the most of their time on the court. Some of the notable performances included Lisanne van Houwelingen (7 kills, 3 service aces), Raylyn Dodd (7 kills, .875 hitting %, 3 blocks), setters Nicole Bott (12 assists) and freshman Kaili Smith (6 assists), and Megan Williams and Carlee Wise combining for 5 kills on 6 swings.
 
In the MBU Fall Invite finale, the Spartans had their hands full with No. 3-ranked Grand View. After a 7-7 tie in the first set, the 2018 NAIA quarterfinalists broke away from the Spartans using a run in which they scored in 11 of the next 14 rallies. The Vikings went on to win Set 1 pretty handily, defeating the Spartans, 25-16.
 
MoBap was able to reverse the momentum leaning heavily on their front-row attack in the second set. Between middle blockers Caterina Cigarini and Marina Sanches and opposite hitter Giovanna Tapigliani, the trio combined for 11 kills, four assisted blocks and 1 service ace. MBU won Set 2 by a score of 25-22.
 
It was a back-and-forth battle in the next frame, however, Missouri Baptist gradually pulled away in a 25-18 third-set victory to go up 2-1 in the match.
 
Grand View wasn't going down without a fight though as the Vikings squeezed past the Spartans in the fourth set. With the game knotted at 23-all, GVU scored the final two points on a block and MBU ballhandling error to force the decisive fifth set.
 
Despite a 4-1 advantage early on, Missouri Baptist was unable to run away with the win. The top-five opponents kept it within one or two points the rest of the set. Similar to Grand View's outcome in the fourth set, Missouri Baptist grabbed the last two points of the match via a Katie Duncan kill and a picture-perfect service ace to secure the Spartans' 11^th consecutive win.
 
Caterina Cigarini had a phenomenal performance recording 16 kills and 6 blocks (2 S, 4 A) and .313 hitting percentage. Her middle blocking counterpart Marina Sanches led the Spartans in hitting percentage (.522) to go along with 13 kills and 4 assists. Other Spartans with 10+ kills included Isidora Stojovic (15) and Katie Duncan (12). Sophomore setter Morgan Berry recorded a double-double with 53 assists and 11 digs, while leading all players with 5 service aces. Junior libero Ariana Macies registered a season-best 36 digs, averaging an impressive 7.2 per set.
 
Up next for Missouri Baptist is a non-conference tilt at Lincoln College on Sept. 10 before opening up American Midwest Conference play at William Woods on Tuesday, Sept. 17.