ST. LOUIS – No. 8-ranked Missouri Baptist University Women's Volleyball overpowered yet another American Midwest Conference (AMC) opponent on Wednesday, grabbing a 3-0 win on the road at University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy. The Spartans have now won 22 consecutive sets as well as seven straight contests via sweeps.
MBU, which sports a record of 8-1 and 4-0 in the AMC, set the tone early scoring eight of the match's first nine points. The Spartans added on an 8-2 run to begin pulling away and put Set 1 out of reach. Leading the charge in the 25-13 opening-set win was
Isidora Stojovic (5 kills, .556 hitting %),
Giovanna Tapigliani (4 kills, .666 hitting %) and
Sara Klunder (3 kills, .400 hitting %).
Despite a slower start, MBU flexed its muscles in Set 2 and continued to score in large chunks. The Spartans notched six straight points at the 6-5 mark and closed out the set with another 8-2 stretch. Statistically speaking, head coach
Chris Nichols' squad had its best set offensively with 16 kills and a .419 hitting % with freshman setter
Shannon McLain spreading the love to
Sara Klunder,
Giovanna Tapigliani and
Emma Lattimore. Klunder led all players in the match with 9 kills with 6 of those coming in Set 2. Tapigliani and Lattimore combined for seven more of MBU's kills in the 25-11 set win.
Set 3 had a very similar vibe to the opening frame as MBU jumped out to a quick lead. McLain was a key contributor in MoBap's 6-1 start to the set including three of her career-high 6 service aces. UHSP closed the gap at 13-10, however, the blip of hope disappeared in short order for the Eutectics with a heartbreaking 11-0 run by Missouri Baptist. Coming on strong in the final set was
Raylyn Dodd, who was in on four blocks,
Kaili Smith, who was in on three, along with two more
Shannon McLain service aces.
Freshman middle blocker
Sara Klunder tied her previous career best in kills (9) and set a new mark for hitting percentage at .727. Senior hitters
Giovanna Tapigliani and
Isidora Stojovic finished with 8 and 6 kills, respectively, and combined for 12 digs.
On the day, MBU outhit the Eutectics .390 to .023 and held an advantage in kills, 39-20, service aces, 8-3, and blocks, 6-0.
The Spartans return to the court on Saturday, Nov. 7 against AMC foe Harris-Stowe State University at 4 p.m. The two teams were originally scheduled to play at HSSU on Sept. 30.
