DES MOINES, Iowa –On the verge of snapping the defending NAIA national champion's 37-match winning streak at home, the No. 13-ranked Missouri Baptist men's volleyball team could not finish off top-ranked Grand View in the Heart Men's Volleyball Championship Semifinals. The top-seeded Vikings climbed back from a 2-1 deficit to win 25-19, 21-25, 20-25, 25-20, 15-12, and advance to the championship for a 1-2 matchup with No. 2-seed William Penn.
In an identical fashion to 2021, MBU got stopped up by the Vikings in the tournament semifinals after sweeping a ranked Mount Mercy squad in each of its quarterfinal matchups. However, the Spartans avoided a sweep in Des Moines this time around and made things much more enjoyable with the five-set flare.
It was a harsh result for the Spartans, who looked like the better team for large stretches of the match. MBU flexed its muscles early, jumping out to a 13-7 lead in the opening set but watched the six-point advantage vanish following a GVU timeout and a 6-0 run by the Vikings. Grand View eventually won Set One, 25-19.
The Spartans cleaned things up in Sets 2 & 3, reflected in the 25-21 and 25-20 set scores and stat lines. During the second and third sets, MBU hit .320% and received a big boost at the net with five blocks in each frame to hold the Vikings to a .100% hitting clip.
Grand View had the upper hand for most of Set Four but had to go into survival mode when the Spartans crept back into the match with a 6-1 run sparked by three consecutive blocks from
Kyle Merzweiler and
David Rudic. The Vikings answered with a 6-1 run of their own and forced the decisive fifth set with a 25-20 set win.
In a first-to-15 scenario, MBU held the edge, having reached the 15-point mark first in three out of the four sets. Up by one at the midway point, Grand View proceeded to bump the margin to five (13-8), which was enough to withstand a late comeback attempt by the Spartans in the form of a 4-1 run.
Miljan Kastratovic and
Stephen Bilkey led the way offensively for the Spartans with 15 and 14 kills. For the second match in a row, Kastratovic recorded a double-double and led the team in both kills and digs (14), a new career-high. Bilkey was just two digs shy of joining Kastratovic with a double-double.
Reigning Heart Men's Volleyball Setter of the Week
David Rudic had a phenomenal match setting and defensively with nine blocks, a team-best and career-high. Other notable performances included
Auston Bonte with 10 kills, four blocks (2 S, 2 A), and two service aces, and middle blocker
Kyle Merzweiler with eight kills and six blocks.
With the loss, No. 13 Missouri Baptist dropped to 21-7 overall and will now eye one of four at-large bids to the NAIA Men's Volleyball National Championship. The Spartans' resume includes five Top-15 wins over No. 1 Grand View, then-No. 3 William Penn, then-No. 4 Park, then-No. 11 Missouri Valley, and No. 15 Mount Mercy with three losses that went the distance in five sets.
For Grand View, the Vikings improved to 22-2 on the year and preserved their winning streak at the Johnson Wellness Center, where they have not lost since 2019. The last losses on their home court came at the 2019 NAIA National Championship in the quarterfinals to MBU and semifinals to eventual national champion Benedictine University at Mesa.
