ST. LOUIS – Friday night's showdown between No. 11-ranked Missouri Baptist University Men's Volleyball and No. 3 William Penn had an eerily similar start like when the two teams met in Oskaloosa, Iowa on Jan. 29. Once again, Missouri Baptist jumped ahead two sets to none but eventually saw the 2-0 lead dissipate and move to a tiebreaker set.
 
This time around, the Spartans bounced back in the fifth set playing some of their best and most passionate volleyball of the night. After hitting -.154% in the fourth set (8 K, 12 E, 26 TA), MBU rewrote the ending and avoided the reverse sweep with an emphatic .562 hitting percentage (10 K, 1 E, 16 TA). MoBap avenged its early-season loss to the Statesmen with a 25-20, 25-19, 17-25, 13-25, 15-11 win.
 
The Spartans improved their overall record to 17-5 overall, 10-3 in conference, and a perfect 11-0 at home.
 
Mirroring the final score, the team comparisons on Friday were split down the middle. No. 11 Missouri Baptist held a 54-44 advantage in kills and 8-3 advantage in service aces despite 23 serving errors, while William Penn finished ahead of the Spartans in hitting percentage (.277 - .206) and blocks (11.5 - 7.0).
 
Junior outside hitter Auston Bonte tied a career high on Friday with 23 kills, starting and finishing the match strong with seven in the opening frame and five in the deciding set. On the opposite side of the front row, junior Stephen Bilkey provided a steady presence and picked up several key points when the Spartans needed him most. Bilkey finished the night with 17 kills on .323 hitting and tied for a match-best two service aces.
 
Sophomore Kyle Merzweiler also had an efficient night, hitting .571 with a season-high eight kills. He teamed up with fellow middle Gabe Norsigian for a total of seven blocks (2 S, 5 A).
 
Stephen Menzel and Michael Olson carried the load defensively with 13 and 11 digs, respectively, and held strong in serve receive allowing the Statesmen just three service aces in the match.
 
The Spartans have an extremely quick turnaround with No. 1 Grand View University visiting the SRC on Saturday at 1 p.m. Following the brutal back-to-back with Nos. 3 William Penn and No. 1 GVU, the Spartans will hit the road for a three-game roadswing.