ST. LOUIS – No. 17 Missouri Baptist University Women's Volleyball put the finishing touches on the 2022 regular season with a clean sweep of Lyon College on Friday evening. The Spartans increasingly imposed their will on Lyon, soundly defeating the Scots by scores of 25-20, 25-15, 25-10.
 
With sweep No. 20 on the year, the Spartans concluded the regular season having dropped just 15 sets in 29 matches. Missouri Baptist will enter next week's American Midwest Conference (AMC) Volleyball Tournament as the No. 2 seed with a record of 26-3, 9-1 AMC.
 
Another milestone achieved on Friday was head coach Chris Nichols recording his 100^th AMC victory as head coach, which averages out to 10 conference per season.
 
MoBap held its third straight opponent under .100% hitting thanks to the strong passing of several Spartans including Rachel Kinney's match-best 19 digs, a season-high 16 for Emma Lattimore, and Shannon McLain and Natalie Edson combining for 15 digs. On the night, Missouri Baptist finished with a 67-46 advantage in digs over the Scots. Defensively, the Spartans were flawless in serve receive holding Lyon without a service ace.
 
The MBU starters set the tone offensively in the opening frame with all five hitters registering at least three kills apiece. Pacing the Spartans early on was senior middle blocker Carlee Wise with five kills on eight swings in Set One. Lyon kept the opening set close, but was unable to make a big enough move in the Spartans' 25-20 set win.
 
Wise was the favorite target once again in Set Two, collecting five more kills to reach double digits after just two sets played. Up by just one point at 14-13, MBU went on an 11-2 run to end the set.
 
Despite an early back-and-forth between the two teams in Set Three, Missouri Baptist once again broke the game open in a big way. Leading 6-5, MBU exploded for a 14-1 run including 10 straight points with Shannon McLain at the service line. Individually, middle blocker Sara Klunder flourished in the third set with eight kills and an .800 attack %. An AMC Player of the Year candidate, Klunder finished the match with 14 kills (.522%) and three blocks.
 
Joining Klunder with double-digit kills was fellow middle blocker Carlee Wise, who ended up with 12 kills (.579%), one shy of her career best. Gabi Jakubowska and Liz van Houwelingen each had eight kills apiece.
 
Junior setter Shannon McLain divvied out 35 assists, had eight digs, and served up two aces. One other stat leader included Nathiellen Machado with three service aces.
 
The Spartans now look ahead to the quarterfinal round of the AMC Volleyball Tournament on Tuesday, Nov. 8. As a top-four seed, Missouri Baptist will host the No. 7-seed, which will be determined after Saturday's remaining AMC contests.