CANTON, Mo. – Second-ranked Missouri Baptist University fell to the third-ranked Grand View in a tough early-season matchup on day two of the Quincy/Culver-Stockton River Challenge. The Spartans were unable to recover after falling into an early 0-2 hole, eventually losing to the Vikings with a 3-1 final on Saturday.
 
The Spartans kept it close early in the first set, never trailing by more than two halfway through. The Vikings took a firm grasp on the set later on after a few long runs. Set one went to Grand View convincingly at 25-19.
 
It was more of the same in the second set. The Spartans were down 11-10 until a four-point run pushed the Vikings well ahead. MBU found their footing a little bit, however, and stormed back to take a 20-17 lead. The offense stalled a bit thereafter, causing them to surrender the second set.
 
Down 0-2, the Spartans hoped to spark a comeback. They jumped out to an early 4-1 set lead but quickly surrendered it again. Deadlocked at 14, the Spartans found the extra gear and stole 11 of the next 16 points from the Vikings to draw the match to 1-2.
 
Grand View snuffed out the comeback bid in the fourth set with a dominating 25-17 performance to give them the 3-1 upset victory.
 
Attack errors were problematic for the Spartans on Saturday, committing 20 of them compared to their counterpart's 10 errors. Additionally, the Viking defense outperformed MBU collecting eight more digs and five more total blocks.
 
There were a couple of strong individual performances for Missouri Baptist on Saturday. Luka Cajic and Miljan Kastratovic both hit over .350 collecting 17 and 15 kills respectively. Jason Harman collected 41 assists and on defense, Stephen Menzel came up with six digs.
 
The Spartans are back home at the Carl and Deloris Petty Sports and Recreation Complex on Tuesday, January 21 to play Culver-Stockton College. The match is set to begin a 7:30 p.m.