COLUMBIA, Mo. – A pair of bounce back wins were just what the doctor ordered for top-ranked Missouri Baptist Women's Volleyball following a rare home loss. On Saturday, the Spartans rebounded with a 3-1 victory over 16^th-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University and a 3-0 sweep of (RV) Evangel University at Columbia College's Hampton Inn Classic.
 
MBU improved to 8-1 on the year and finished the week 4-1 overall with two Top 25 wins and an additional two against teams receiving votes. After playing five matches in three days, the Spartans will take a weeklong break before returning to action in Point Lookout, Mo. for a non-conference match at College of the Ozarks.
 
In the 11 a.m. match, the Spartans may have been experiencing minor aftereffects from Friday's loss with a sluggish start against No. 16 Indiana Wesleyan. Despite hitting just .051 with nine attack errors, MBU still managed to snag a 25-22 win from the Wildcats in Set One. The Spartans weren't as lucky in the second stanza. IWU held the Spartans to just seven kills and a .083 hitting clip, all while putting together their best set of the match – 13 kills and .250%. The Wildcats evened the match winning set 25-19
 
MoBap's offense finally came to life in the following sets and reduced the errors. The Spartans hit .244 and .206 in Sets Three and Four and won by scores of 25-17 and 25-20.
 
Aiding the Spartans in their win were 10 service aces and a season-best nine blocks. Maria Hanusik and Natalie Edson led the way at the service line with three aces apiece, while Emma Lattimore and Luiza Goncalves registered two apiece. At the net, middles Sara Klunder and Kirsten van der Vleuten accounted for 6.5 blocks including two solo blocks apiece.
 
Other stat leaders versus IWU included Klunder with 12 kills, Rachel Kinney with 20 digs and Shannon McLain with 35 assists.
 
The Spartans parlayed the momentum from their Indiana Wesleyan win right into the second match against (RV) Evangel. MoBap picked up its sixth sweep of the season defeating the Valor 25-19, 25-22, 25-21.
 
Much like the previous match, the factors putting MBU over the top came at the net and service line. The Spartans finished the match with an 8-4 advantage in blocks and 8-2 advantage in aces.
 
Nearly the entire roster got in on the action. The middle blocking duo of Klunder and van der Vleuten combined for 16 kills and eight blocks with the latter of the two hitting .778 with seven kills on nine swings and two solo blocks.
 
Shannon McLain and Luiza Goncalves split duties at setter with Goncalves dishing out 23 assists in Sets 1 & 2, while McLain closed out the match with 11 assists, two block assists and four digs.
 
Defensively, Nathiellen Machado pulled up 16 digs (5.33 d/s) and added four assists and a match-best three service aces to the cause.