SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Playing catch-up for most of Thursday's NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championship Quarterfinal, No. 6-ranked Missouri Baptist University went the distance and found a way to win a match for the ages. Gritty. Gutsy. Determined. Valiant. All could be used to describe the Spartans' efforts in the 13-25, 25-21, 18-25, 25-21, 15-12 victory over 14^th-ranked Grand View.
 
"It was a fun match to be a part of," said head coach Chris Nichols, whose team advances to the NAIA Semifinals for the fourth time in program history and third since 2015. "Our group stuck together, bounced back in the second set and again in the fourth. We are battle-tested and have been getting better as this tournament goes on, so hopefully, we can carry that momentum into tomorrow's semifinal."
 
The Spartans (26-2, 9-0 AMC) will take on No. 16-ranked and hometown hero Dordt University (18-6, 11-5 GPAC), which upset conference foe Concordia (Neb.) in straight sets Thursday. The MBU-Dordt match is scheduled for Friday at 7:30 p.m. (CST) and will air live on ESPN3. The earlier game will feature top-ranked Jamestown (N.D.) and yet another GPAC school in No. 12 Midland (Neb.).
 
Thrown off-kilter from the get-go, Missouri Baptist had a hard time containing Grand View in the opening set. Contributing to the Vikings' red-hot start was outside hitter Jenna Wagemester, who accounted for eight of the team's 15 kills. GVU hit a match-best .483 with just one error and coasted to a 25-13 set win.
 
MBU, which hit .114 in the first frame, had similar struggles in the next set. Early on, the Spartans got a spark off the bench from sophomore opposite hitter Liz van Houwelingen, who had three kills in four rallies. Trailing for a majority of Set Two, MBU made its move late going on an 8-2 run. In addition to van Houwelingen and Emma Lattimore's eight combined kills, the Spartans relied on aggressive serving and four service aces between Nathiellen Machado, Maria Hanusik and Ariana Macies.
 
Despite a quick start to Set Three, the Spartans found themselves playing from behind again after the Vikings turned to a different offensive weapon in Alexa Aldrich-Ingram. The lefty opposite hitter had six kills in the set to propel Grand View to a 25-18 win and one step closer to pulling off the upset.
 
MBU found its rhythm in the fourth frame and jumped out to a 9-2 advantage. The Spartans kept their foot on the gas and stretched the lead to 20-10 before the Vikings mounted a comeback attempt. MoBap avoided the letdown and held off Grand View, 25-21.
 
The ebb and flow to the tiebreaker set was only fitting for two teams that had jockeyed back and forth to get to that point. MBU started off hot with a 4-0 run, but saw that margin shrink to one at 7-6. The Spartans distanced themselves again with another 4-0 run thanks to a pair of Isidora Stojovic kills and two points from Emma Lattimore (1 K, 1 SA). On cue, Grand View scored five of the next six to cut MBU's lead to 12-11. With everyone on the edge of their seats, the sixth-ranked Spartans stood tall and delivered two blocks (Dodd-Tapigliani-Stojovic) and finished it off with a kill from AMC Player of the Year Giovanna Tapigliani.
 
It marked just the third time all season that the NAIA's most efficient hitting team was held below .200. The previous two occasions resulted in the Spartans' only losses of the season. Thursday evening, Missouri Baptist reversed that curse after hitting just .165 for the match.
 
Sophomore Emma Lattimore led the team in kills for the second time in Sioux City finishing with a career-high 16 kills. The Farmington, Mo. native was also one of five Spartans with 10+ digs. Senior libero Ariana Macies paced MBU with 22 digs and pitched in six assists.
 
The Spartans were able to compensate for an off night offensively with 11 blocks and nine service aces. In on eight of the blocks was senior Raylyn Dodd (6 kills, 8 block assists). Four different Spartans recorded aces each.