QUINCY, Ill. – The Spartans pulled out their first victory of 2020 on Friday evening, defeating the Quincy University Hawks in five sets. Miljan Kastratovic and Luka Cajic led Missouri Baptist to consecutive set wins in the fourth and fifth sets after falling into an early 1-2 hole.
 
MBU jumped on Quincy with an early first set victory thanks to a long mid-set run that pushed the score to 18-12 in favor of the Spartans. The Hawks made it close toward the end but two clutch kills from Miljan Kastratovic put his team ahead 1-0.
 
Strong play from Eddie Jakubauskas and Omari Wheeler combined with several Spartan errors led to Quincy victories in sets two and three.
 
Back-to-back kills from Cajic tied the fourth set up at six after his team briefly fell behind. A service error pushed the Hawks ahead for a moment before the visitors rattled off five points in a row to take a four-point lead. With momentum on their side, the Spartans promptly took 14 of the next 21 points to knot the game back at two sets aside.
 
The two teams went back and forth to begin the fifth set, but a strong four-point run had the Spartans looking at the finish line. Up 14-11, Jason Harman found Drew Iliff for a game-ending kill to give the MBU their first win of the 2020 season.
 
"We blocked well, did a great job with our first contact, and brought a ton of energy in set four and five," said second-year head coach Tom Young.
 
Sophomore Miljan Kastratovic led the team in kills on Friday with 19 and paired it with four block assists. Senior Luka Cajic was not far behind with 16 kills while leading the team with 11 digs. Jason Harman also continued his solid all-around play collecting 44 assists and 10 digs.
 
The Quincy/Culver-Stockton River Challenge continues tomorrow afternoon as the Spartans take on Grand View University at 1 p.m. in Canton, Missouri.