ST. LOUIS – With a pair of teams separating themselves from the rest of the pack, the race for the American Midwest Conference volleyball regular-season title became more apparent on Wednesday night. No. 7 Missouri Baptist University staked its claim as the frontrunner, taking down No. 13 Columbia College, who was previously unbeaten in AMC play, in straight sets. The Spartans swept the visiting Cougars 25-20, 25-23, 25-16.
 
Missouri Baptist (19-4, 6-0 AMC) picked up its third win over a ranked opponent this season and moved one step closer to securing home-court advantage for the 2023 AMC Volleyball Tournament next month. Columbia, who won three out of the four meetings against the Spartans in 2022, dropped its first AMC regular-season contest in nearly two years, with the last loss coming on Oct. 19, 2021, at Missouri Baptist.
 
Setting the tone early, MoBap never trailed in the opening set. The Spartans got off to such a quick start – 6-1 – that CC head coach Allison Jones-Olson used a timeout to stop the bleeding. The timeout put a bandaid on the situation; however, the Cougars could only get within two in a 25-20 set win for MBU. It wasn't always pretty for the Spartans, who hit just .075 in Set One. Balancing out the below-average attack were three blocks and three service aces. With set point, junior DS Luiza Arsufi landed MBU's third ace to close the set.
 
The Spartans battled from behind in Set Two as No. 13 Columbia jumped out to a 4-0 lead. Slowly but surely, MBU chipped away at the Cougar lead and tied it at 12-12. MoBap took its first lead of the set at 13-12 and increased it as much as five [19-14]. Columbia stayed alive in the set thanks to a string of MBU attack errors. Although CC nearly erased the five-point deficit, the Spartans held them off late and got kills late from Gabi Jakubowska (2) and Maiana Coelho on a dump to win 25-23.
 
Sophomore setter Sidney Hogan started the third set with a service ace that sparked a 3-0 start. Columbia responded with a run twice as long. A Gabi Jakubowska kill finally halted the Cougars' 7-0 run. MBU then proceeded to put points on the board in 17 of the subsequent 21 rallies. It was a group effort building the insurmountable 21-11 lead as six different Spartans recorded kills to go along with three blocks and an ace. With the match point at 24-13, MBU gave Columbia a sliver of hope with back-to-back-to-back attack errors. Jakubowska put the match to rest with the final kill and a 25-16 Set Three victory.
 
Jakubowska, who made her return to the court for the first time since being sidelined with a minor injury after the Maryville match (10/4/23), led all players with 12 kills on .241 hitting.
 
Senior middle blocker Sara Klunder was honored before the match for becoming the ninth Spartan on record to reach 1,000 career kills. The reigning AMC Attacker of the Week was kept in single digits with eight kills on .300 hitting but made up for it with six blocks (1 S, 5 A).
 
Setter Maiana Coelho led the Spartans with 21 assists. The bigger storyline for the junior, however, was her career-high seven kills on eight swings (.875%).
 
Kaylee Hanger, who has won four straight AMC Defender of the Week awards, made a strong case for a fifth, pulling up 19 digs (6.33 d/s). She was backed up by defensive specialist Natalie Edson, who pitched in nine digs.
 
The beauty in the win was that the Spartans found alternative forms of scoring on a night in which the attack was limited. With their second-lowest hitting percentage of the year (.195%), MBU posted its second-highest block total (11.0) and landed six aces against a great passing team (third most against the Cougars this season). The Spartans also held CC to its second-lowest hitting percentage of the year (.135%).
 
Up next for No. 7 MBU is Hannibal-LaGrange, the final home regular-season contest on Tuesday, Oct. 24. Following that, the Spartans will have a rematch with the Cougars and another Top 25 match in No. 19 Central Methodist on Oct. 30, a tri-match rescheduled from Sept. 13.