ST. LOUIS – Missouri Baptist University women's volleyball went 3-1 overall in their own MBU Classic Tournament over the weekend. The Spartans split a pair of five-set games on Friday before finishing up with a pair of sweeps on Saturday.
(RV) Lindsey Wilson Recap
MBU struggled in the first two sets against (RV) Lindsey Wilson College and dropped sets one and two after making 18 attack errors combined. The Blue Raiders took set one 25-22 and set two 25-23 with the Spartans hitting under .200 in both frames.
Gabi Jakubowska had seven kills in the third set and
Kassie Lee had four to lead the team to a 25-19 win. The hitting percentage exploded upward in a 25-20 fourth-set win at .415 with Jakubowska adding 12 more kills to her total.
Looking to complete the reverse sweep but trailing 4-1 early in the fifth set, the Spartans were gifted an attack error before
Fernanda Perini rattled off four consecutive points. Jakubowska tallied the next three kills for the team, with the last sparking a run to extend the lead to 12-7. The junior from Katowice, Poland, went on to end the match and set a new personal single-game high with her 29
th kill to complete the MBU victory over Lindsey Wilson.
Spartan Stat Leaders
Kills:
Gabi Jakubowska (29)
Assists:
Maiana Coelho (44)
Hitting %:
Maiana Coelho (.556)
Aces:
Gabi Jakubowska (4)
Digs:
Julia Pereira (22)
Blocks:
Kassie Lee (4.0)
No. 24 McPherson Recap
The 24
th-ranked McPherson College Bulldogs opened set one with a 25-20 win over the tournament hosts, but a pair of blocks from
Kirsten van der Vleuten and six kills from Jakubowska in set two had the match knotted up after a 25-23 win.
The Spartans dropped set three but had the net defense working in set four as van der Vleuten and Perini combined for five blocks.
Paige Glueck pitched in with a long service run where she notched a pair of service aces that propelled her team to a 25-17 win to force set five.
The Bulldogs caught fire to end the match in the final frame, hitting .538 with seven kills on 13 attacks and no errors to finish off a 15-10 set victory and a 3-2 win over the Spartans on their home court.
Spartan Stat Leaders
Kills:
Gabi Jakubowska (24)
Assists:
Maiana Coelho (44)
Hitting %:
Kassie Lee (.421)
Aces:
Tiia Heikkinen (4)
Digs:
Maiana Coelho (22)
Blocks:
Kirsten van der Vleuten (6.0)
Faulkner Recap
Missouri Baptist opened Saturday morning's match against Faulkner with a .609 hitting percentage in a 25-11 finish.
Elina Arsov and Perini had four kills in the set, Lee had three, Arsov posted a pair of blocks, and the team sent over a trio of aces.
Set two was also a quick affair, with the Spartans winning 25-18 on a .250 hitting percentage. In set three,
Tiia Heikkinen sparked a long mid-set run in the third frame with three of her four aces in the game to help the team to a 25-12 victory to finish off the sweep of the Eagles.
Spartan Stat Leaders
Kills:
Elina Arsov (9)
Assists:
Maiana Coelho (33)
Hitting %:
Kirsten van der Vleuten (.667)
Aces:
Tiia Heikkinen
Digs:
Julia Pereira (13)
Blocks:
Kirsten van der Vleuten (4.0)
St. Ambrose Recap
Again the Spartans came out hot against St. Ambrose in the final match of the tournament, hitting .636 with 14 kills on 22 attacks. Jakubowska claimed five of them, Arsov and van der Vleuten tallied three each, and Lee had two which paved the way to a 25-14 win.
Set two ended 25-19 after Arsov, Perini, and Lee combined for nine kills. Setter
Maiana Coelho tallied 14 assists in the second set alone as a part of a 36-assist performance.
Jakubowska ended an impressive tournament outing over the weekend in set three against the Fighting Bees with seven kills to end the day with 18 and the tournament with 77. The Spartans claimed the sweep of St. Ambrose with a 25-18 third-frame victory after hitting .323 on 31 attacks.
Spartan Stat Leaders
Kills:
Gabi Jakubowska (18)
Assists:
Maiana Coelho (36)
Hitting %:
Kirsten van der Vleuten (.833)
Aces:
Tiia Heikkinen (3)
Digs:
Maiana Coelho (9)
Blocks:
Riley Kortkamp (4.0)
Records
(RV) Missouri Baptist: 14-11
(RV) Lindsey Wilson: 20-8
No. 24 McPherson: 17-5
Faulkner: 6-14
St. Ambrose: 9-14
Next Game
The Spartans are back at home on Tuesday, Oct. 15, in the Conway Clash against NCAA Division II school Maryville University. The opening serve at the Carl & Deloris Petty SRC is set for 6 p.m.
Watch:
SpartanDigitalNetwork.com
Live Stats:
https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=541160
Tickets:
MBUSpartans.com/Tickets
