ST. LOUIS – The fourth-ranked Missouri Baptist University women's volleyball team rounded up two more wins on Saturday to close out the MBU Classic with a perfect 3-0 record. On the front end of the doubleheader, the Spartans swept Trinity International University, 25-19, 25-12, 25-16, then won the tournament finale in a 3-1 victory over Cumberland University.
 
MBU will take its 13-match winning streak into Thursday's rematch at No. 23 Columbia College. The Spartans will look to avenge their last loss, which was in the form of a 25-23, 25-12, 25-22 sweep at The Southwell Complex in Columbia on Sept. 9. This week's clash between AMC volleyball powerhouses will have significant implications on the AMC regular-season championship race and seeding for the postseason tournament.
 
(4) Missouri Baptist def. Trinity International, 3-0 [25-19, 25-12, 25-16]
Outside of an early surge from the Trojans in the opening set, Missouri Baptist had a firm grip on the match. The visiting Trojans were held under .100 hitting in all three sets and finished the match at .043%.
 
After falling behind by six in Set One, the Spartans rallied behind a monster run at the service line from Emma Lattimore. The senior outside hitter powered a 9-0 Spartan run to put MBU back on top with a small three-point cushion. The Spartans kept the momentum going to win the set, 25-19.
 
Set Two was never in question for the Spartans particularly with a nice 8-1 run paving the way to a commanding 16-8 lead. MoBap committed just one attack error in the set while cruising to a 25-12 win.


The Spartans were just as efficient in the final set hitting .419 with a match-high 16 kills.
 
For the match, MBU had five players with more than seven kills led by Gabi Jakubowska's 10. Middle blocker Sara Klunder continues to bolster her campaign for a second NAIA All-America nod as the junior finished with eight kills on 12 swings (.583) and six blocks (2 S, 4 A). Rachel Kinney, Emma Lattimore, and Kirsten van der Vleuten all finished with seven kills apiece.
 
Defensively, MBU had four players with 7+ digs including Shannon McLain (7), Lattimore (9), Maria Hanusik (10) and Nathiellen Machado with a match-best 12 digs.
 
(4) Missouri Baptist def. Cumberland, 3-1 [25-15, 25-22, 13-25, 25-15]
Saturday's Cumberland match had some similarities to the Spartans' grind-it-out win over St. Ambrose on Friday afternoon. The Phoenix, who scored a 3-1 win over St. Ambrose in the 9 a.m. match, totaled 14 team blocks against the Spartans and held the two-time defending national champions to a .146 hitting percentage.
 
One of the MBU's saving graces against Cumberland were several hustle plays from the back row including a match-best 19 digs from Nathiellen Machado and 10+ digs from Lattimore and Hanusik. Another saving grace was the season-best 14 service aces. Both Maria Hanusik and Natalie Edson tied their career highs in aces with 5 and 3, respectively.
 
Offensively, Sara Klunder had another productive match with 10 kills, a .409 attack % and four block assists. Joining Klunder in double figures was Jakubowska for a second straight match (12) and Lattimore (11).