ST. LOUIS – The No. 12-ranked Missouri Baptist University men's volleyball team opened the season Friday with back-to-back sweeps on Day One of the 2024 Heart of America Challenge. The Spartans defeated St. Ambrose, 25-21, 25-18, 25-21, and finished off the day with an impressive routing of Calumet St. Joseph, who had won in straight sets earlier in the day.
 
Day Two of the HOA Challenge will continue on Saturday, however, all of the remaining matches will be played down the road at University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy. MBU is set to play Kansas Wesleyan University (1-1) at 12:00 PM and Central Christian (0-2) at approximately 4:00 PM, both on Court 2 inside of UHSP Gymnasium.
 
(12) Missouri Baptist def. St. Ambrose University, 3-0 [25-21, 25-18, 25-21]
It didn't take long for freshman opposite hitter Aleksa Mandic to get acclimated in his collegiate debut. The Belgrade, Serbia freshman, transferring in from University of Hawaii, rattled off seven kills en route to MBU's 25-21 opening-set win. The Spartans had little room for error against St. Ambrose in Set One as the Fighting Bees committed just one attack error with a red-hot .423 attack percentage.
 
Following the offensive explosion for both teams in Set One, the Spartans remained steady while the Fighting Bees came down from the high. The turning point in the set was a 6-1 run to put MBU up 11-5. MoBap led a balanced attack the rest of the way with 12 kills, four service aces, and two blocks while holding SAU to a match-low .000 hitting percentage.
 
Set Three was full of runs. Missouri Baptist orchestrated an early 8-1 run with strong serving from Aleksa Mandic and Michael Olson (3 aces) and four kills in five rallies. In the middle of the frame, the Spartans put together a separate 8-2 run as they approached the finish line. Unfortunately, St. Ambrose answered with a 7-2 run of their own to narrow the margin to two at 23-21. Senior middle blocker Kyle Merzweiler put the game to rest with a kill following a costly Fighting Bee service error.
 
In his debut, Aleksa Mandic posted a match-best 14 kills on .345 hitting along with a match-high five service aces. Splitting time between libero and outside, senior Michael Olson was second on the team in points with six kills, three aces, the team's only solo block. Other notable performances included setter David Rudic's double-double of 34 assists, 11 digs, Auston Bonte's seven kills, and Kyle Merzweiler's perfect five kills on five swings.
 
(12) Missouri Baptist def. Calumet College of St. Joseph, 3-0 [25-17, 25-16, 25-11]
There was a sliver of the first set in which Calumet St. Joseph found its groove and had the Spartans on the ropes, but that stretch was shortlived. After the Crimson Wave climbed back from a four-point deficit to go up 14-13, MBU responded in a big way with an 12-3 run to close out the set. Several Spartans got in on the action including Aleksa Mandic, who finished the set with five kills, and the Michael Olson-Michael Anderson duo, who finished with three apiece.
 
A quick 10-4 lead helped No. 12 Missouri Baptist set the tone in the second frame. The Spartans really began to take over the match in Set Two where they registered five team blocks and improved their attack percentage from .321 to .400% in the 25-16 set win. Defensively, they shut down the Crimson Wave, forcing them to hit a match-worst -.077.
 
The Spartans put even more distance between themselves and CCSJ in the third set out-hitting the opponent from the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference .636 to .048. At one point, MoBap scored 10 unanswered points. They finished the match on a 6-0 run to handily defeat the Crimson Wave, 25-11 in the third.
 
Michael Olson led the Spartans against Calumet, finishing with 12 kills on 18 swings for a .611 hitting % and. He also tied for the team lead in aces (3) and added four digs and two block assists.
 
Joining Olson in double-digits for the second time on Friday was freshman Aleksa Mandic. The opposite hitter recorded 11 kills and three more aces. Middles Kyle Merzweiler and Michael Anderson combined for 10 kills, no attack errors, a .714 hitting %, and five block assists.
 
Other stat leaders in the nightcap included David Rudic with 36 assists and Marko Jovanovic with 10 digs.
 
As a team, MBU was perfect in serve receive and had a 42-21 advantage in kills, .440-.014 advantage in hitting efficiency, 8-0 advantage in aces, and a 9-4 advantage in blocks.