ST. LOUIS – Top-seeded Missouri Baptist claimed its first AMC Women's Volleyball Tournament championship since 2011 and third overall with a 25-22, 25-20, 25-23 win over No. 3-seed Columbia College on Saturday. Making their 13^th appearance in a conference final, the Spartans finally rectified past struggles against the Cougars by picking up win No. 2 in 11 tries.
 
Saturday marked the third meeting this year between the two AMC rivals and the third sweep by MBU to boot. It also extended the Spartans' winning streak against Columbia to five.
 
The win didn't come quite as easy as the other two sweeps. The Spartans were tested throughout as each set extended past 45 rallies, whereas the Cougars reached 20 points just once in the previous two outings.
 
In Set One, the Spartans jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead, but the five-point margin was the largest it would get in the opening set. No. 6-ranked Missouri Baptist hit .256 in the frame with 14 kills compared to Columbia's lowest percentage of the match (.045) and 11 kills.  It was uncharacteristic service errors – five to be exact – that kept Columbia in the game. The Spartans held off CC late in a 25-22 Set One win.
 
Two critical runs in the second set helped propel the Spartans to a 25-20 win. Down 5-4, the Spartans answered with four consecutive kills from Giovanna Tapigliani, Sara Klunder (2), and Emma Lattimore, and a CC attack error. The Cougars stayed in striking distance and eventually tied the set at 17-all. The Spartans' second run had Raylyn Dodd written all over it. The senior middle blocker registered one kill and two blocks in a 5-1 stretch to end the set.
 
With MBU in the driver's seat for much of the third set with a lead as large as eight (18-10), Columbia wasn't willing to go down without a fight. The Cougars rallied with a 5-0 run and closed within a point on two separate occasions, including 24-23. With three match point opportunities, the third time was the charm for MoBap. Isidora Stojovic registered her seventh kill of the set, hammering a ball off Columbia's block that sailed behind the Spartans' service line to send the team into celebration mode.
 
Stojovic notched a season-high 16 kills with just one error (.577) to lead the Spartans in the championship match. Tapigliani reached double digits as well with 10 kills while adding nine digs and a season-best four blocks to her line.
 
Lattimore and Klunder finished with seven kills apiece, and Raylyn Dodd rounded it out with six kills to go along with a match-high seven blocks. Freshman setter Shannon McLain dished out 41 assists in the win.
 
Defensively, Ariana Macies kept the Spartans in several rallies with a match-best 18 digs for a 6.00 average on the day. Freshman Maria Hanusik and Lattimore finished with 10 and 9 digs, respectively.
 
With a pair of matches and the Spartans' regular-season title in limbo due to a misinterpretation of the AMC intra-conference transfer rule and how it applies to a COVID year with volleyball in the spring, the stakes for Saturday's match were even higher. The winner received the AMC's second automatic bid to the NAIA National Championship.
 
Leaving nothing in doubt with a 3-0 sweep of the Cougars, Missouri Baptist locked up the second auto bid. The Spartans will be making their 12^th overall trip to the NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championship and seventh straight under the direction of head coach Chris Nichols.
 
With a new format to the National Championship, all qualifiers will play in an Opening Round match next Saturday to determine the group of 24 that advance to Sioux City, Iowa. The Spartans have put in a bid to host one of next weekend's NAIA National Opening Round matches, which the NAIA will officially announce on Monday morning. Stay tuned to MBUSpartans.com for news regarding Opening Round host sites.
 
At the completion of Saturday's championship match, the AMC announced its All-Conference recipients. A complete list of MBU's award winners can be found here: https://mbuspartans.com/news/2021/4/10/womens-volleyball-womens-volleyball-dominates-amc-all-conference-awards.aspx.