ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Missouri Baptist men's volleyball rebounded in a big way on Tuesday evening defeating Culver-Stockton College in three sets. After finishing the Quincy/Culver-Stockton River Challenge with a loss, the Spartans found their bearings back at home with a sweep to get them to .500.
 
The first set began as a back and forth affair, each team feeling each other out early on. With the Spartans clinging to a 15-13 lead, senior Jack Huizinga rattled off a service ace in three of his next four serves to give the Spartans a commanding lead.
 
The Wildcats responded quickly picking up five of the next six points to pull within two. The Spartans eventually closed out the set after two errors by the visitors.
 
Luka Cajic and Miljan Kastratovic dominated the second set, combining for eight kills (four each). Jason Harman also had a strong set dishing out 11 assists. The Spartans dominated the Wildcats in the second set by the score of 25-19.
 
With a chance to close out the sweep and up 17-16 in the third set, the Spartans went on a four-point run thanks to a kill by Cajic, two Culver-Stockton errors, and a Stephen Menzel service ace.
 
The visitors returned the favor with a four-point run of their own. The comeback bid ran out of steam, however. Missouri Baptist took four of the next five points to give them their first sweep of the season.
 
The Spartans combined for six service aces in the third set alone and tallied 11 over the three sets. The victory pushes the Spartans back to the .500 mark at 2-2.
 
"Luka, Skyler, and Mario did a much better job tonight with serve receive," said head coach Tom Young. "When we are in system, we should be a pretty tough team to stop. Jack Huizinga also had a great match at the service line. I'm excited to watch these guys continue to get better and better."
 
On offense, Cajic collected 10 kills, three digs, and hit .368. Kastratovic was right behind him with nine kills and three service aces and Jason Harman put up 27 assists.
 
On defense, senior Skyler Capllonch and Mario Lucas led the way combining for 13 digs. Lastly, Jack Huizinga had a fantastic night from the service line with six aces.
 
The Spartans are back at home on Wednesday night to take on another St. Louis-based university in Fontbonne (NCAA DIII). The game is set to begin at 6 p.m.