For the second week in a row, Missouri Baptist Men's Volleyball picked up a pair of mid-week sweeps, however, this time around it was a combination of a reverse sweep and a traditional sweep. The Spartans wrapped up a lengthy six-match homestand on Tuesday with a gutsy 3-2 win over (RV) Cornerstone University before swiping a straight-set victory on the road at Culver-Stockton College on Wednesday evening.
 
After dropping a spot in the latest NAIA Men's Volleyball Coaches' Top 15 Poll to No. 15 on Wednesday morning, Missouri Baptist extended its winning streak to five matches and improved to 14-6, 8-5 HEART.
 
With seven regular-season matches remaining, the Spartans are still in the hunt for a top-four seed in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament, which begins in a little over two weeks. As it stands right now, MBU is No. 5 in the league standings behind Park (19-0, 14-0 HEART), Grand View and William Penn tied for second at 11-4, and Mount Mercy at 9-4.
 
This weekend will have big implications on positioning as MBU heads to Iowa wrap up their season series with Clarke and Mount Mercy on Friday and Saturday.
 
(14) Missouri Baptist University def. (RV) Cornerstone University, 3-2 [20-25, 20-25, 25-16, 25-19, 15-8]
It was a less-than-memorable first two sets for MoBap on Tuesday as Cornerstone delivered back-to-back 25-20 wins and was well within reach of sounding off the upset alert alarms. The Spartans were out of sync in Sets One and Two and hit just .106%, while the Golden Eagles hit nearly .300%.
 
MoBap snapped out of its funk and leaned on the team's veterans to get things back in order. In the third set, Senior Auston Bonte was a star with three aces throughout a pair of lengthy runs at the service line. Fellow upperclassmen Miljan Kastratovic and Michael Olson both had five kills apiece in the 25-16 Set Three victory.
 
Despite a 5-1 deficit in Set Four, the Spartans knew how to respond and took their first lead of the set at 10-9. MBU stood their ground and never trailed thereafter in a 25-19 win.
 
Both teams jockeyed for position at the start of the tiebreaker set, however, a kill from MBU's Olson spurred a clutch 7-1 run and took the air out of Cornerstone's sails. The unconventional reverse sweep was complete with a Miljan Kastratovic kill at 15-8. The Budva, Montenegro grad student led all scorers with 22 kills, 2 service aces, and a block.
 
Bonte and Olson both finished with 10 kills apiece and combined for seven aces.
 
(15) Missouri Baptist University def. Culver-Stockton College, 3-0 [25-13, 26-24, 25-19]
Unlike Tuesday's come-from-behind victory, the Spartans were dominant in the opening set. As a team, MoBap hit .647% and went the entire frame without an attack error (11 K, 0 E, 17 TA). Senior outside hitter Auston Bonte got off to a great start and led the way with six kills. Fellow outside Milos Markovic also highlighted Set One recording three service aces.
 
MBU's non-starters got the nod in Set Two but struggled with numerous errors in the earlygoing. Culver-Stockton exploited the Spartan errors and jumped out to a surprising 9-2 lead. Trailing by as much as nine at the 17-8 mark, several Spartan starters re-entered the contest and slowly chipped away at the Wildcats' sizable margin. Sparking the rally were a pair of Kyle Merzweiler blocks, along with Bonte and Miljan Kastratovic, who accounted for 10 kills out of MBU's last 17 points in the set. The Spartans went on a 6-1 run to end Set Two with a 26-24 come-from-behind win.
 
Setter David Rudic continued to feed Bonte and Kastratovic in the third, which paid off. Between the two, the pin hitters added 11 more kills to the fold and finished the night with 15 and 14, respectively. In addition to Bonte's 15 kills, the St. Louis, Mo. senior pulled up a match-best 10 digs.
 
Statistically, MBU outpaced Culver-Stockton 41-24 in kills, and .341% to .101% in hitting percentage. The Wildcats held a slight advantage in service aces – 7 to 6 – and blocks – 5 to 4.