ST. LOUIS – The No. 14-ranked Missouri Baptist men's volleyball team bounced back from an early Set One loss on Wednesday to defeat Maryville University, 22-25, 25-12, 25-21, 25-17.
In addition to completing the season sweep in the 'Conway Clash' series, the Spartans also spoiled and bookended the Saints' four-match winning streak. Meanwhile, the 3-1 victory extends MBU's streak to six straight and bumps the team to 10-2 overall.
Maryville took control midway through the opening set with a 5-1 run and led by and was sitting pretty at 21-16. The Spartans, led by
Stephen Bilkey (7 kills, .545%, 2 blocks in Set 1), pushed back and narrowed the gap to just one at 21-20. Unfortunately, the Saints survived the scare scoring four of the next six points for a 25-22 win.
MoBap cleaned up its error-happy first set, which was evident by the red-hot .600 hitting percentage in the following set. Setter
David Rudic got middle blocker
Kyle Merzweiler involved with a set-high four kills, while Bilkey,
Milos Markovic and
Auston Bonte chipped in three apiece. MBU ran away with Set Two, 25-12.
Despite an efficient outing from Maryville in Set Three (.474%), the Saints' 10 kills were not enough to offset a 17-kill performance from the Spartans. It was the
Stephen Bilkey and
Auston Bonte show as they masterfully picked apart the Saints for seven kills and five kills, respectively.
From a statistical standpoint, the final set was ugly for both sides, but it was 14
th-ranked Missouri Baptist who emerged from the pack. The Saints hit in the negatives, -.192% to be exact, while the Spartans broke even at .000% (8 K, 8 E, 27 TA). Helping MBU's cause were four aces from the service line and a combined 13 attack and service errors from the visitors.
With leading scorer
Miljan Kastratovic not in the lineup, opposite hitter
Stephen Bilkey stepped up when the Spartans needed him most. The 6-8 junior finished with a match-high 19 kills, hitting .361% with six digs and a pair of blocks.
Auston Bonte reached double-digit kills for the third match in a row as he notched 13 kills, tied for the team lead in service aces (3) and totaled five digs and three blocks.
Kyle Merzweiler followed up his career night versus Missouri Valley with another spectacular performance finishing with nine kills on 12 swings (.667%) and four blocks.
Libero
Stephen Menzel was flawless in serve receive on Wednesday and registered a match-best 11 digs for the Spartans. Other leaders on the evening were
David Rudic with 45 assists and
Milos Markovic, who tied
Auston Bonte with three service aces.
Missouri Baptist will look to extend its six-match winning streak on Friday when it welcomes Graceland University to the SRC. First serve for the Heart of America Athletic Conference contest is set for 7 p.m.
