ST. LOUIS – Opening its home and conference schedule Tuesday, 13
th-ranked Missouri Baptist University Men's Volleyball claimed its second sweep in a row, cruising to a 25-8, 25-14, 25-17 win over Culver-Stockton College. MBU put on a show in its long-awaited return to the Petty Sports & Recreation Complex as 11 different Spartans registered a kill in the match.
Missouri Baptist improved to 2-1, 1-0 HEART, and 3-0 all-time in Heart of America Athletic Conference openers. The winless Wildcats, on the other hand, were unable to snap a three-game losing streak and dropped to 0-4 on the season.
It was a lopsided affair from start to finish as the Spartans outhit the Wildcats .569% to -.049% and ended the match with a 44-15 advantage in kills. MBU's .569 hitting percentage marked the best efficiency rating in seven years, dating back to a .643 clip against Brooklyn College (1/14/16). Defensively, MoBap forced more C-SC attack errors (18) than kills (15) and kept the Wildcats' attack in the negatives in all three sets.
Red-hot out of the gates, MBU scored seven out of the set's first 10 points and kept rolling from there. The formidable outside hitter duo of
Miljan Kastratovic and
Auston Bonte were in sync with 11 kills on 13 swings in the opening frame. Altogether, the Spartans put together their best-attacking set of the young season, committing just one attack error with a .652 hitting clip. Not only did they dominate offensively, but they also set the tone early defensively, totaling three blocks and holding Culver-Stockton to a match-low -.105%. The Spartans showed they were not messing around by taking Set One, 25-8.
Missouri Baptist head coach
Tom Young deployed some fresh faces in the second set, including freshman middle blocker
Johnathan Kreke. The Edwardsville, Ill. middle blocker logged a block assist and went 3-for-3 on attacks, with his final kill assisted by fellow freshman
Josh Kaemmerer, who was also making his MBU debut on Tuesday. However, despite a subtle improvement from the Wildcats, the Spartans still took care of business with
Miljan Kastratovic chipping in another five kills in a 25-14 Set Two win.
MBU continued its dominant run in the next set, and it came from a different group of Spartans. Seizing the opportunity in Set Three were juniors
Michael Olson,
Sam Goedde, and
Francesco Michelini. Olson paced the Spartans with four kills and a solo block in the set, while Goedde wasn't far behind with a service ace and three kills, including the game-clincher. Michelini dished out 12 assists and added two kills and an ace. The Wildcats surged late in Set Three with a 7-3 run but were kept at arm's length as MBU secured the sweep with a 25-18 set win.
The Spartans' middles were near-perfect attacking with 11 kills on 12 swings (.916) between Kreke,
Michael Anderson, and
Petar Lecic.
Kastratovic led all scorers with nine kills, followed by Bonte, who had seven kills (.875%) in his one set of action. The setting duo of
David Rudic and
Francesco Michelini combined for 33 assists and half of the Spartans' service aces (4).
No. 13 Missouri Baptist jumps right into the toughest stretch of its schedule as it heads to Iowa for a Thursday night matchup at No. 1-ranked and two-time defending national champion Grand View University (2-1, 0-0 HEART). The Spartans turn right around on Friday to play preseason No. 5 William Penn University (1-3, 0-1 HEART).
