ST. LOUIS – Following a weekend of hard-fought losses to No. 12 Grand View and No. 9 William Penn, the No. 14-ranked Missouri Baptist University men's volleyball team reestablished themselves in the win column with a pair of mid-week sweeps. The Spartans collected a 25-9, 25-13, 25-18 sweep at home over Kansas Wesleyan University on Tuesday followed by a 25-21, 25-21, 25-17 straight-set win in conference over University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy on Wednesday evening.
 
Playing ahead for a majority of each match, Missouri Baptist was able to spread the playing time amongst 14 different Spartans. Seizing the opportunity was junior outside hitter Michael Olson, who amassed 24 kills (4.80 k/s) and hit .400% across five sets. Milos Markovic, who joined Olson in playing five of the six sets, stepped up defensively leading the team in digs (13) and service aces (4) against the Coyotes and Eutectics.
 
(14) Missouri Baptist University def. Kansas Wesleyan University, 3-0 [25-9, 25-13, 25-18]
The Spartans made quick work of the upstart Kansas Wesleyan program in its second year of existence. It was an error-ridden opening set for the Coyotes, who had 17 errors – nine attack errors, four at the service line and four on serve receive. MBU benefitted from KWU's mistakes and meager -.316 hitting clip, recording just seven kills and four aces in the 25-9 set win.
 
St. Louis natives Michael Anderson and Sam Goedde led the charge in Set Two as each had four kills apiece. It was the Spartans' most efficient set on the afternoon, hitting .409% to Kansas Wesleyan's .095%. MoBap continued to hurt the Coyotes from the service line, landing five more aces in the second set.
 
With a back-and-forth battle to begin the third, MBU used an 8-3 run to pull away from the Coyotes, who had evened the set at 8-8 early on. Carrying the heavy lifting in Set Three were Michael Olson (4 kills), Goedde, who added three more kills to his career-high (7) along with two aces.
 
Josh Kaemmerer and Francesco Michelini split time setting with Kaemmerer recording 16 assists, two aces, and a block assist, while Michelini notched nine assists and four digs in two sets of action.
 
(14) Missouri Baptist University def. University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy, 3- [25-21, 25-21, 25-17]
The opening set on Wednesday evening was a game of ebb and flow. UHSP took its first lead at 10-9 that MBU answered with a 7-0 run. The Eutectics responded with their own 8-2 run to tie the set at 18-all. Outside hitters Michael Olson and Mlijan Kastratovic then kicked it into overdrive helping MBU score seven of the last 10 points and an ace to cap the 25-21 set win. Olson and Kastratovic combined for 11 of the Spartans' 15 kills in the set.
 
Set Two was another up and down affair. After surrendering two of the first three points to UHSP, the Spartans pulled ahead for good with a 5-0 run jumpstarted by a Veljko Culibrk kill and back-to-back aces by the 6-foot-6 freshman opposite hitter. Michael Olson had another big set, hammering home nine kills while helping MBU to its highest hitting percentage of the match ­– .435%. The Spartans held off Health Sciences & Pharmacy late to win by a familiar tune of 25-21.
 
With a new group on the floor, MBU came out on fire scoring in 13 of the first 17 rallies. Having already reached his previous career-high after Set Two, Michael Olson added four more kills and a pair of aces to bring his total to 18. Francesco Michelini had himself a set registering 10 assists, two kills, and two blocks (1 S, 1 A). Others that pitched in in the third included Milos Markovic, Sam Goedde, Petar Lecic, and Johnathan Kreke.
 
The Spartans' six-match homestand continues Saturday, March 4 when St. Ambrose University comes to town at 4 p.m.