ST. LOUIS – The first official "Conway Clash" in men's volleyball didn't disappoint as No. 11-ranked Missouri Baptist defeated the upstart Maryville University Saints in five sets, 23-25, 25-18, 25-18, 23-25, 16-14. Senior Miljan Kastratovic fueled the Spartans' victory with a career night and came through in the clutch with six kills in the final frame.
 
After two setbacks in Iowa at (RV) William Penn and (1) Grand View, Missouri Baptist has bounced back nicely with back-to-back wins on the road. The Spartans improved to 6-2 overall while the Saints dropped to 3-7 in their first season as a varsity program.
 
The Spartans fell behind early with a sloppy first set which included seven errors at the service line and a .172 hitting percentage. Despite the struggles, MoBap didn't go down without a fight. Trailing 24-18, the Spartans denied five of Maryville's set points with a late 5-0 surge but were unable complete the comeback.
 
Both teams jockeyed for position in Set Two and found themselves tied on 11 different occasions up to the 17-17 mark. That was the turning point for the Spartan squad that rattled off eight points in the next nine rallies to even the match with a 25-18 win.
 
In similar fashion, MBU broke away from the Saints midway through the third set. The Spartans used an 8-3 run to take Set Three, 25-18, and moved one set away from a victory in the inaugural men's volleyball Conway Clash.
 
Another error-ridden set for the Spartans kept Maryville's hopes alive. With 10 attack errors and three service errors for MBU, the Saints built enough of a cushion to withstand another late Spartan rally. Tied at 23-all, Maryville's Cameron Chambers and Cole Torrence blocked Milos Markovic and forced the critical fifth set with an MBU attack error.
 
Maryville and MoBap each had their moments in the finale. What was even more fitting for the tiebreaker set was eight ties throughout with one as late as 14-14. Thwarting Maryville's match point attempt, Miljan Kastratovic delivered back-to-back kills to reverse match point in favor of the 11^th-ranked Spartans. MBU watched the Saints' attack attempt by Jacob Fischer sail wide and collectively breathed a sigh of relief.
 
Miljan Kastratovic was the favorite of Spartan setter David Rudic on Tuesday receiving a career-high 53 attack attempts in which he converted into 27 kills, also a career best. Kastratovic and Rudic both recorded double-doubles on the day with the former springing for 27 kills-10 digs and three aces while the latter posted 48 assists-10 digs and a match-best five blocks.
 
Other notable performances at Maryville included Stephen Bilkey and Milos Markovic reaching double-digit kills with 10 apiece and combining for 19 digs, Stephen Menzel with a team-high 13 digs, Gabe Norsigian with five kills on 11 swings (.455), and freshman Michael Anderson with three kills and three blocks.
 
Tuesday marked the end a four-match roadswing as the Spartans return home on Friday for a doubleheader at 4 and 7 p.m. versus Central Christian College (Kan.) and HEART opponent Clarke University.