ST. LOUIS – With the regular season coming to a close next week, No. 5-ranked Missouri Baptist University Women's Volleyball kept its perfect AMC record intact with a 3-0 sweep of Lyon College on Friday evening. The 25-14, 25-21, 25-23 straight-set victory marked the 14^th sweep of the season for the Spartans.
 
MBU continues to flex its muscles when playing in the confines of Lacey Gymnasium, winning its 25^th match in a row at home. The Spartans improved to 16-2, 7-0 AMC, while the Scots dropped to 7-10, 2-3 AMC.
 
Lyon kept pace with Spartans early in Set 1 and nearly evened the match after trailing by five. However, the Spartans had different plans. Holding a slim 11-10 lead, MoBap broke off an 8-0 run powered by freshman Maria Hanusik at the service line. The outside hitter from Tychy, Poland, served eight straight rallies that resulted in three kills, an ace, and three Lyon miscues.
 
The senior tandem of Isidora Stojovic and Giovanna Tapigliani carried the Spartans to a 25-14 win in Set One, combining for eight kills and two of the team's four service aces.
 
Despite a hot start to the match, MBU struggled slightly in the second set. The Scots hung with the Spartans, out-hitting the home team .182 to .161 while posting a 12-11 advantage in kills. Late in the frame, Lyon knotted the game at 18-all and 19-all but watched the Spartans score in six of the final eight rallies. Serving and blocking proved to be the difference-maker for MoBap as the team posted five service aces and the only three blocks of the match in Set No. 2.
 
Lyon gave the Spartans all they could handle in the third set and even led early, jumping out to a quick 3-1 advantage. Neither side was able to break away, and for the second set in a row, the two teams were tied late in the game. The Scots fought back to a 20-20 tie this time and scored two straight with match point on the line for the Spartans. To avoid stretching the set past 25, Giovanna Tapigliani put the final stamp on it with a kill in the Spartans' third match-point attempt.
 
The visitors from Batesville, Ark. held the fifth-ranked Spartans under their season attack percentage (.310) for the third straight match finishing the night with 39 kills and a .287 hitting clip. MBU also tied a season-low for blocks with 3. One area that the Spartans exceeded their season numbers was at the service line. Paced by Maria Hanusik's match-high three service aces and two apiece from Isidora Stojovic, Sara Klunder, and Shannon McLain, the Spartans posted 11 aces – the sixth time this season with 10+.
 
Giovanna Tapigliani led MBU with 11 kills, followed by Stojovic with 10, and middles Raylyn Dodd and Sara Klunder with six apiece. Starting at setter, freshman Shannon McLain finished the evening with 34 assists, five digs, two aces, a block, and a kill. And defensively, Ariana Macies and Hanusik were the Spartans' most frequent passers with 13 and 12 digs, respectively.
 
No. 5-ranked Missouri Baptist will return to the court on Tuesday at 7 p.m. for a 1-2 showdown with second-place William Woods (5-2, 5-0 AMC).