CHESTERFIELD, Mo. – Hosting a nine-match MBU Beach Volleyball Tournament on Thursday and Friday out at the Chesterfield Valley Athletic Complex, the seventh-ranked Spartans wrapped up the tournament with a 3-2 record. Missouri Baptist secured a pair of 5-0 sweeps against Bryant & Stratton College (Wis.) and edged out (RV) Ottawa, 3-2, but came up short in both matches versus No. 10 Park.
 
The Spartans were forced to shuffle their regular lineups with the absence of Ariana Macies. Having the most success amid the shuffling was the team of Nathiellen Machado and Isidora Stojovic, who had a perfect 5-0 record including a pair of wins in the No. 2 flight and three at No. 3s. Machado and Stojovic won their every match in two sets while their opponents got past the 15-point mark in just two of the 10 sets played.
 
Playing at No. 1 throughout the tournament, Maria Hanusik and Giovanna Tapigliani went 3-2 with both losses coming to Park's top pair of Giovanna Bello and Debora Bernardi. Thursday's match was a fight to the finish as the Pirates edged out Hanusik and Tapigliani, 21-18, 21-19. In the tournament opener, MBU's No. 1s had a flash of dominance earning a 21-2 set win against Bryant & Stratton's Brooke Clements and Aleysha Llanos. The pair also displayed resilience after dropping the first set (21-13) to Ottawa on Friday and bouncing back with 21-18 and 15-8 wins to help propel the Spartans to a 3-2 win over the Braves in the team race.
 
Newcomers Calista Morais and Marina Obradovic finished 2-3 overall but were not far off from a 5-0 record. The pair was locked into tight battles in its three losses to Park and Ottawa eclipsing 15 points in each match and pushing its match against Park on Friday to a tiebreaker set.
 
Kaili Smith and Kirsten van der Vleuten teamed up at No. 4s and had early success starting off the tournament with three straight wins. In the final matches against 10^th-ranked Park and (RV) Ottawa, Smith and van der Vleuten came up just short in a pair of three setters.
 
Underclassmen Natalie Edson and Sara Klunder were paired up on two occasions at the No. 5 slot and came away victorious both times.
 
The Spartans will have a chance at redemption in two weeks when it travels to Kansas City for the Ottawa University Volleyball Beach Tournament with scheduled matches against Oklahoma Wesleyan, Ottawa, and (10) Park.