ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Missouri Baptist men's volleyball had quite the afternoon on Saturday, defeating Lincoln College in three sets and the tournament hosts Missouri Valley College in four sets. Sophomore outside hitter, Miljan Kastratovic led the way to the victories collecting 27 total kills over the seven sets.
 
The Spartans faced little resistance in the sweep over Lincoln College. The Spartans defeated the Lynx 25-18, 25-11, and 25-11 finding time to get several different players playing time.
 
In the first set against Lincoln, MBU found themselves in an early 9-6 hole before going on a 13-1 run to take a commanding 19-6 lead. The Lynx made a comeback attempt with a short run of their own but ultimately fell too far behind.
 
Kastratovic absolutely dominated the final two sets as the Spartans defeated them by the same 25-11 score, giving them their fourth straight sweep.
 
Drew Iliff had a phenomenal game hitting .846 on 13 attack attempts and tied Kastratovic for the game lead with 12 kills. Freshman Job Faber continued his strong play as a setter with 19 assists. From the line, Kastratovic led the team with six service aces, Matt Pike had 2, Jack Huizinga had one, and so did Luka Cajic.
 
On defense, Mario Lucas and Skyler Capllonch tied with six digs each with Cajic on their heels with five.
 
Game two was a little bit tougher, playing Missouri Valley in their home court. MBU took game one with relative ease at 25-19 but dropped their first set in four games after a 22-25 loss in the second set.
 
In the third set, the Spartans took an early 3-0 lead and never looked back. The Vikings pulled within two points midway through the set but a kill from Iliff sent Missouri Baptist on a run to give them separation. Missouri Valley would not recover as the visitors took the set 25-17.
 
The undefeated tournament run was completed in the fourth set with a narrow 25-23 victory. At 15-13, the Spartans tried to speed things up with a five-point run sparked by another Drew Iliff kill.
 
The Vikings did not go quietly, however, battling all the way back to within two at 23-21. A Viking service error put the Spartans a point away. Missouri Valley took the next two points but clutch-hitting Iliff finished off the tournament hosts once and for all.
 
The Spartans had three players with double-digit kills with Mario Lucas falling just short with eight. Most of this due to the play of senior setter Jason Harman collecting 47 assists.
 
"It was nice to get some playing time for some of the bench guys in the Lincoln match and it's also great winning 3-0," said head coach Tom Young. In the Valley match, Luka and Skyler had another outing in serve receive."
 
Missouri Baptist will look to stay white-hot against Saint Ambrose in game one of the Grand View University Tournament on January 31 in Des Moines, Iowa. Opening serve is set for 5 p.m.