ST. LOUIS – The No. 11-ranked Missouri Baptist University men's volleyball team breezed past Lincoln College on Wednesday for its third sweep in six days. In the final tune-up before a key Heart of America road series this weekend, the Spartans hit a season-best .519 on the way to a 25-9, 25-14, 25-22 victory over the Lynx.
Fast starts to the season have been a regular occurrence for MBU Men's Volleyball. Improving to 4-0 with Wednesday's win, the Spartans have now begun the year 4-0 in six of the past seven seasons. Meanwhile, Lincoln remains winless in the all-time series and have yet to steal a set from MBU.
While Lincoln's best shot at taking a set from the Spartans came in the Set Three, the first two sets were never in doubt. MoBap wasted little time distancing itself from the Lynx in the opening set. Libero
Stephen Menzel lit it up from the service line leading the Spartans on a substantial 12-0 run which included three aces and a rare dig/kill combo from his backrow spot. Opposite hitter
Stephen Bilkey teamed up with
Gabe Norsigian for four blocks during MBU's run. For the set, Missouri Baptist out-hit the Lynx, .643 to –.190.
Once again, the Spartans jumped out to a quick lead and provided a sizeable margin that wasn't fazed by Lincoln scoring six in a row in the middle of the set. MoBap used an 8-1 run and led by 10 at the 16-6 mark. The Spartans' coldspell was ended by LC's mishaps at the service line followed by another 8-1 run to end the set.
The third set was not like the others. The two teams traded points for much of the set including ties on 12 separate occasions. Down 20-16, Missouri Baptist halted the Lincoln momentum with a
Kyle Merzweiler kill. The elder Merzweiler – Will – stepped up at the service line and helped even the set at 20-all. Lincoln's Jamere Jackson recorded a kill to make it 21-20 in favor of the visitors, however, MBU scored in five of the last six rallies capped off by a
Sam Goedde service ace.
Ten different Spartans registered a kill on the night paced by
Miljan Kastratovic (6 kills, .273%),
Michael Olson who was perfect on the night (5 kills, 1.000%),
Auston Bonte (5 kills, .714%) and
Kyle Merzweiler and
Milos Markovic with four kills apiece.
Freshman setter
David Rudic led the Spartans in both assists (27) and digs (7), while
Stephen Bilkey registered a match-best four blocks (2 S, 2 A).
The Spartans will have a challenging weekend ahead with one of the tougher road trips in Heart of America Athletic Conference play. No. 11 MBU will head to Iowa to play (RV) William Penn University on Friday and finish the weekend in Des Moines on Saturday squaring off against the reigning NAIA national champs and No. 1-ranked Grand View Vikings.
