ST. LOUIS – Missouri Baptist University kept its hopes of a bid to the NAIA Men's Volleyball National Championship alive with a sweep of 15^th-ranked Mount Mercy University on Saturday in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship Quarterfinals. In the tournament's 4-5 matchup, the Spartans defeated the Mustangs in Lacey Gymnasium in straight sets for the second time this season, winning 25-16, 25-22, 25-21.
 
Missouri Baptist advances to the Heart Semifinals on Wednesday, March 30 to take on No. 1 seed and No. 1-ranked Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa. The last time the two teams met, the Spartans upset the Vikings in St. Louis, 3-1.
 
With the victory, No. 13 Missouri Baptist (21-7) locked in a perfect home record of 14-0 including five ranked/Top-15 wins. It marks the fourth time in seven seasons that the Spartans have gone undefeated at home (2016, 2018, 2019, 2022). Since the SRC opened, MBU Men's Volleyball is 130-11 all-time at home for an incredible .921 winning percentage.
 
Breaking away from an early 6-6 tie in the opening set, the Spartans used a 9-2 surge to really set the tone for the rest of the match. Senior outside hitter Miljan Kastratovic was a perfect 6-for-6 on his attack attempts in Set One to lead the Spartans to a 25-16 win. On the other side, the Mustangs had just as many errors as kills prompting a .000 attack percentage.
 
The points were harder to come by for Missouri Baptist in an evenly matched second set. Despite trailing early in the set, once the Spartans pulled ahead at 11-10, they kept a minimal margin in front of them. Behind the strong play of Heart of America Freshman/Newcomer of the Year Lucas Rebula, Mount Mercy trimmed the lead to one at 23-22, but MBU fended off the Mustangs. Auston Bonte delivered a clutch kill at 24-22 and following a long rally, the Spartans watched a Lucas Rebula attack sail just past the end line.
 
The Spartans struck first in Set Three and forced an early MMU timeout at 6-2. The Mustangs eventually evened the game at 11-all and took their first lead of the set at 14-13. While the Spartans were near perfect from the service line in Set One with just one service error, they began to pile up in Sets Two and Three, which helped keep the visitors within reach. MBU outside hitters Auston Bonte and Miljan Kastratovic sparked the offense late and carrying the Spartans past the finish line was Stephen Bilkey. The opposite hitter was relatively quiet until the third set, where he was in on three blocks to go with three kills including two of the Spartans' final three points.
 
Kastratovic registered a double-double pacing the Spartans with a team-best 15 kills, 12 digs and .462 hitting percentage. Auston Bonte was close to a double-double as well finishing with nine kills, eight digs, and a match-best four service aces.
 
Missouri Baptist totaled nine blocks on the afternoon led by Kyle Merzweiler and Stephen Bilkey with five apiece and Gabe Norsigian with four.