COLUMBIA, Mo. – In a battle of two American Midwest Conference unbeatens, No. 7 Missouri Baptist University came away victorious and preserved its unblemished AMC record. The Spartans recorded their fourth sweep in five matches with a 25-22, 25-15, 25-22 road win at Stephens College on Thursday evening.
Missouri Baptist notched win No. 15 on the year, improving to 15-3 overall and 5-0 AMC as it passed the halfway point in the conference schedule. Stephens suffered its first AMC defeat after starting league play with five straight wins over Central Baptist, Williams Baptist, William Woods, UHSP, and Cottey.
At the end of the day, the Spartans found a way to win despite an unproductive outing offensively. MBU's 33 kills were the lowest total, and the .198 hitting percentage was the second-lowest mark of the year.
Playing without two top pin hitters in
Gabi Jakubowska and
Emma Lattimore, No. 7 Missouri Baptist turned to
Sara Klunder and
Tayler Neal, who fielded 55 of the Spartans' 96 attack attempts. Klunder paced all players with 11 kills, followed closely by Neal with nine kills. Middle blocker
Kassie Lee was next in line with six kills on 15 attempts.
Without as much production on attack, the Spartans leaned on their aggressive serving and presence at the net to offset the shortcomings. At the service line, junior
Luiza Arsufi tied her career-high in aces with five, while
Maria Hanusik (2), Neal (1), and
Natalie Edson combined for four more. The Spartans were led in blocks at the net by
Sara Klunder (6) and
Kirsten van der Vleuten (5).
MBU had to fend off the Stars late in the third frame. After methodically cutting into the Spartans' lead, Stephens eventually knotted the set at 22-all. Luckily for MoBap, the Stars couldn't get out of their own way, serving long at 22-22, followed by a ballhandling error to make it match point. MBU scored the final three points and shut down the Stars' rally, accentuated by an emphatic, match-ending block from setter
Maiana Coelho and middle blocker
Sara Klunder.
Other stat leaders on Thursday included Coelho with 25 assists and
Kaylee Hanger with a match-best 13 digs.
With just a little over 12 hours of rest, the Spartans will have a quick turnaround as they host the MBU Classic on Friday and Saturday, welcoming the likes of No. 8 Park, Lindsey Wilson, St. Ambrose, and Saint Xavier to the SRC. Up first for No. 7 MBU is St. Ambrose (12-11, 6-4 CCAC).
