HANNIBAL, Mo. – Hannibal-LaGrange University (2-9, 1-4 AMC) became the latest team to fall victim to a Missouri Baptist women's volleyball sweep on Tuesday evening. En route to their sixth consecutive sweep, the No. 8-ranked Spartans won handily by scores of 25-13, 25-10 and 25-12.
Likewise, MBU (7-1, 3-0 AMC) had the upper hand in every facet of the match with a 42-17 advantage in kills, 8-1 advantage in service aces, 6-1 advantage in blocks and 47-35 advantage in digs. The Spartans once again boosted their NAIA-leading hitting percentage with a .363 mark on Tuesday, all while stifling the opposing attack. The Trojans were held to their second-lowest hitting percentage of the year at -.012.
Defensively, MBU keyed in on Hannibal's top offensive weapons – Myrnaliz Perez and Sierra Erke – who came into the match averaging 3.03 and 3.16 kills per set and a combined .202 hitting percentage. Perez and Erke totaled just 7 kills with the latter hitting negative (3 kills, 5 errors, -.125).
The Spartans displayed their depth as 13 different players recorded at least one point in the match. Leading the way offensively were senior outside hitter
Isidora Stojovic and freshman middle blocker
Sara Klunder, who combined for 19 kills, 3 blocks and 1 service ace. Stojovic led all players with 10 kills and came up just two digs shy of a double-double, while Klunder was
Shannon McLain's go-to at the beginning of the match with 6 of her 9 kills and both blocks coming in the opening set.
Newly-minted AMC Setter of the Week
Shannon McLain put up another worthy performance registering 25 assists (12.50 a/s), 3 kills, 3 digs and 2 service aces. Fellow freshman
Maria Hanusik continues to show off her versatility finishing with 4 kills on 8 swings, 3 digs, 2 blocks and 1 service ace.
Other notable performances included libero
Ariana Macies with a match-best 14 digs in two sets played, opposite hitter
Giovanna Tapigliani with 5 kills and 5 digs and sophomore setter
Abby Braswell with 10 assists and an ace in Set 3.
The Spartans next contest appears to be on the road at University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy in St. Louis on Nov. 4, however, reschedule dates with No. 18 Columbia (Mo.) and Harris-Stowe State (Mo.) have not yet been finalized.
