ST. LOUIS, MO. – The sixth-ranked Missouri Baptist men's volleyball program took down the Clarke University Pride on Friday evening in three consecutive sets. The Spartans are now 16-4 overall and 12-4 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference.
 
After an offensive show on Thursday night, the home team kept the momentum going with a 25-14 first set victory. As a team, MBU posted a .320 hitting percentage, 11 kills, three aces, and three blocks in the opening frame.
 
Defense carried the Spartans to a victory in the second set. Four blocks and 11 digs stifled the struggling Clarke defense.
 
The Pride did not go down without a fight in the third set. They jumped out quickly to a 13-10 lead prompting Head Coach Tom Young to send junior Daniel Borsi back into the game.
 
The visitors scored one more point before Borsi sent down a kill on an assist by Jason Harman that ignited a 9-2 scoring run. Clarke continued to fight, battling late in the set to draw within one at 24-23. Freshman Kyle Merzweiler finished off set three and the match with a 25-23 final.
 
There was plenty of offense to go around on Friday evening with four different Spartans collecting five or more kills. Other notable stats include Harman's 29 assists and four kills, Merzweiler's four blocks, and Milos Markovic's three service aces.
 
The final regular season homestand of 2021 comes to a close on Saturday afternoon with Senior Day at the Petty SRC. The opening serve against (13) Mount Mercy is scheduled for 1 p.m.