ST. LOUIS, MO. – Sixth-ranked Missouri Baptist men's volleyball took care of the Graceland University Yellowjackets with a sweep at home on Thursday night. The Spartans hit a collective .392 with 39 kills while shutting down the opposition with 25 digs, 10 aces, and three blocks.
 
After an upsetting loss to the then fourth-ranked Missouri Valley Vikings earlier this week, the Spartans came ready to play. They took five of the first six points in set one and completely locked down their opponents. Graceland had just a single scoring run that lasted more than one point as the home team took the opening frame 25-15.
 
The MBU attack continued deep into set two. The Yellowjackets found some life late in the second set after being on the verge of another loss at 23-16. A kill and an attack error pulled them to within five, followed by a kill from Gabe Norsigian.
 
A couple of errors from the Spartans had the visitors within striking distance at 24-20 but a service error from Graceland ended set two with a 25-20 final.
 
The men found themselves in a 6-4 hole early in set three. A kill from Auston Bonte and a pair of Miljan Kastratovic service aces propelled the Spartans to a lead.
 
After a single-point rebuttal from the Jackets, Kyle Merzweiler started another 4-0 scoring run to widen the gap even more. The momentum from the early scoring runs carried the Spartans to a convincing 25-16 win in set three and to another sweep.
 
Offensively, Kastratovic led the team with 12 kills and four service aces. Daniel Borsi also had a nice night collecting seven kills, one block assist, two aces, and nine digs. Jason Harman produced 32 assists to continue his strong senior campaign.
 
The win keeps Missouri Baptist in the mix for a top-three spot in the Heart of America Athletic Conference, pushing their record to 11-4 and 15-4 overall. The schedule continues on Friday night with another Heart matchup at home against Clarke University.