BATESVILLE, Ark. – The No. 3-ranked Missouri Baptist University women's volleyball team closed out its regular season on the road with a clean sweep of Lyon College on Saturday, 25-11, 25-8, 25-21. With the straight-set victory, the Spartans finished their conference slate with an unblemished 9-0 record to claim the regular season title.
 
Currently sporting one of the NAIA's longest winning streaks at 20 matches, the Spartans will head into the postseason as the No. 1 seed for the AMC Women's Volleyball Championship for the second straight season.
 
Missouri Baptist (24-2, 9-0 AMC) strong armed the Scots in Set One with 15 kills on .424 hitting, while Lyon had more attack errors than kills (9 K, 10 E) with a -.023 hitting percentage. Leading the charge in the opening frame was Giovanna Tapigliani, who tallied seven kills and was in on three blocks. The São Paulo, Brazil opposite hitter ended the day tied for the team lead in kills with 10. Also tied for a match-high 10 kills was Raylyn Dodd, who added five blocks (1 S, 4 A) as well.
 
The early dominance foreshadowed the following set as the Spartans again overwhelmed Lyon. En route to a 25-8 set win, the Spartans went without an attack error for a blistering .640 hitting percentage and a 16-6 advantage in kills.
 
Carlee Wise highlighted the third set with five kills on six swings (.667) as the Spartans held off a late push from the home team and defeated the Scots, 25-21.
 
Setters Manuela Vargas and Shannon McLain both averaged 12+ assists per set with Vargas amassing 27 to go along with a match-best three service aces and seven digs. Libero Ariana Macies, who has led the Spartans in passing in all but two matches this season, paced the team with 12 digs on Saturday.
 
No. 3 and top-seeded MBU will look to repeat as AMC Tournament champions when they host No. 8-seed University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. Last season, the Spartans knocked the Eutectics out in the 2020-21 AMC Semifinals in a 1-4 matchup.