ST. LOUIS – With one final chance to play in front of a home crowd, No. 8-ranked Missouri Baptist University made the most of the opportunity, defeating the University of Mobile (Ala.) in straight sets in the NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championship Opening Round. In front of roughly 450 fans, the Spartans posted a 25-17, 25-22, 25-16 sweep to secure their spot at the National Championship Final Site in Sioux City, Iowa.
Missouri Baptist will be making its 10
th consecutive trip to the National Championship Final Site, improving its Opening Round record to 6-0 all-time. Since the change in 2020-21 to 24 Opening Round sites to determine the Final Site qualifiers, the Spartans are a perfect 4-0 with the new format and have yet to yield a set to any Opening Round opponents.
"I thought we did a good job preparing for the match the last couple of days, working hard on the gameplan, and the ladies stuck to it," said 11
th-year head coach
Chris Nichols. "We served and passed really well, and I felt we were in control most of the match. We're excited about what's ahead of us."
No. 8 MBU never trailed in the opening set, and blocking and passing were a significant reason, as the Spartans kept the Mobile attack at bay. The visitors barely broke even, hitting .000% with seven kills and seven attack errors on 35 swings. With middle blocker
Sara Klunder sidelined due to an injury, the Spartans' turned to the pins in Set One, led by the Polish pair of
Maria Hanusik (4 kills, .429%) and
Gabi Jakubowska (4 kills, .375%) and
Emma Lattimore (3 kills).
Set Two was more even across the board, and Mobile had a slight edge early and maintained It through the halfway point. Down by three at 14-11, the Spartans surged and went on a 7-2 run to take their first lead of the second stanza. A service run by defensive specialist
Luiza Arsufi with back-to-back aces got the Spartans out of the hole and was enough of a spark to help MBU hold off the Rams, 25-22.
Although there was some jockeying in the early part of Set Three, MBU controlled most of the final frame as the Spartans led by three or more points from 11-8. MBU made it difficult on the Rams again, holding the visitors to a .028 hitting clip and committing just one attack error offensively.
Sophomore opposite hitter
Gabi Jakubowska led all scorers in kills (11) and hitting percentage (.476). Outside hitters
Maria Hanusik and
Emma Lattimore stepped up in a big way offensively and defensively, with 15 and 11 digs, respectively, and a combined 16 kills. Libero
Kaylee Hanger also posted double-digit digs (13) and five assists.
Other stat leaders on the day consisted of
Luiza Arsufi with two service aces and
Kirsten van der Vleuten with three blocks.
The Spartans await their pairings for NAIA National Championship Pool Play, which will be announced on Sunday evening. Pool Play begins on Wednesday, Nov. 29.
