ROLLA, Mo. – The No. 13-ranked Missouri Baptist University men's volleyball team stumbled out of the blocks to start its 2023 campaign dropping a four-set nailbiter on the road at Missouri S&T, an NCAA Division I volleyball program. After the Spartans took Set One, the Miners squeaked by to win the next three, all of which required extra points. MBU fell to S&T, 25-22, 25-27, 28-30, 24-26.
Thursday's defeat in the first-ever meeting marks just the second time in the last 10 seasons that Men's Volleyball (0-1) has lost its season opener. Missouri S&T ended its three-match skid with the win, moving to 2-5 on the year.
MoBap got off to a quick start and never trailed in the opening frame. The Spartans seized the momentum out of the gates rattling off six straight points for a 7-1 lead. Freshman opposite hitter
Veljko Culibrk made a statement in his MBU debut leading the team in kills in Set One with five kills on eight swings. In addition to
Auston Bonte's four kills, the Spartans won their first set of the season, 25-22.
Missouri S&T responded in the next two sets. The Miners did well to keep their distance from the Spartans as the sets drew on, but the Spartans were not going to go down without a fight. Graduate outside hitter
Miljan Kastratovic and Culibrk lead the charge with combined 13 kills and four service aces over the next two frames. Their efforts would not be in vain as the Spartans captured the lead near the finish line in each set. Forcing extra points, both teams exchanged the lead five times before the Miners sealed the deal with a 27-25 win in Set Two followed by a 30-28 win in Set Three.
After losing back-to-back sets, the Spartans looked to stay alive and engaged in another tight battle with the Miners. The largest margin for either team in Set Four was three points with MoBap converting on 26.7% of its attacks compared to Missouri S&T's .171 clip. Putting them into a position to win Set Four and force a tiebreaker set, MBU squandered a 24-22 lead giving up four consecutive points to the Miners. S&T's Nate Meyer capped off the 4-0 run with his 28
th kill of the night to seal the Spartans' fate.
Culibrk (16 K, .250%, 4 SA, 2 B, 5 D) and Kastratovic (13 K, .379%, 6 D, 3 A) paced MBU with a combined 29 kills and hit .307% collectively, while the rest of the team hit .142 on the night.
No. 13 Missouri Baptist will look to score one for the win column on Saturday when it travels to Ottawa University (Kan.). First serve is set for 1 p.m.
