ST. LOUIS – The 14^th-ranked Missouri Baptist men's volleyball team kicked off its six-match homestand in style with a straight-set victory over Clarke University. The action-packed Heart of America matchup was filled with high-flying kills from the Spartans and very little offensive production from the visiting Pride.
 
It was a fight for positioning early in the opening set. Despite a negative hitting percentage below -.200% for most of the set, the Pride hung around early in large part due to MBU's double-digit miscues. Leading by just two at 12-10, the Spartans broke the game wide open. With Auston Bonte at the service line, MoBap poured an 8-0 on the Pride which included three Bonte service aces. Clarke's short attempt at a rally was thwarted by a CU service error and Gabe Norsigian kill to finish off a 25-15 Set One victory.
 
The second set was not as kind to the Spartans. After the seventh tie of the set at 8-8, the Pride went on a 4-0 run to force an MBU timeout. The Spartans chipped away at the four-point hole and eventually knotted the set again at 15-all. One of the turning points happened at the 20-20 mark when outside hitter Daniel Borsi came off the bench to deliver back-to-back aces. Clarke didn't go away easy, however, MBU squeaked out a 25-23 win following a marathon final point.
 
Set Three was smooth sailin' for the Spartans as they hit a blazing .647% and held the Pride in the negatives for the second time in three sets. The runaway victory in the final set (25-8) was fueled by a 13-1 run in the last 14 rallies.
 
The final stat line was one-sided with the Spartans leading the match in kills (41-14), aces (12-2), and digs (29-16). Both teams recorded four total blocks on the night.
 
Senior Miljan Kastratovic recorded five kills in each set for a match-best 15 kills. A trio of Spartans hit above .500% for the match including Auston Bonte with 9 kills, .571%, 6 digs and 3 aces, Gabe Norsigian with 6 kills on 8 swings, .750%, and 3 blocks, and Kyle Merzweiler with 5 kills on 6 swings and a .667 hitting percentage. Freshman setter David Rudic averaged 12.66 assists per set and finished with a match-high four service aces.
 
Defensively, Stephen Menzel pulled up a match-best 11 digs and was aided by the strong passing of opposite hitter Stephen Bilkey, who contributed 9 digs to the worthy cause.
 
No. 14-ranked Missouri Baptist climbed back above .500 in Heart of America action and heads into Saturday's match against (RV) Mount Mercy University at 7-2, 3-2 HEART. On the other side of the net, Clarke dropped to 4-8 on the year and is still searching for win No. 1 in the Heart at 0-4.
 
First serve for Saturday's match is set for 1 p.m.