Missouri Baptist University volleyball will play in Pool B of the NAIA National Tournament against second-seeded Indiana Wesleyan University and the No.15 seed Montana Tech University beginning on Wednesday, Dec. 4, at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa. The 23rd-seeded Spartans take on the Wildcats on Dec. 4, at 4:30 p.m., followed by a meeting with the Diggers on Thursday, Dec. 5, at 4:30 p.m.
After claiming the American Midwest Conference Regular Season and Tournament Championships, the Spartans won a five-set thriller over Grace College on the road on Nov. 23. MBU was down 12-8 in the fifth set before rattling off seven in a row to pull off the comeback victory. This is the 16
th time the program has qualified for the NAIA National Tournament and the 11
th consecutive season at the NAIA Final Site.
The Spartans started 4-9 this season but have gone 22-2 since Sept. 7, earning a 26-11 record and a perfect 11-0 in the conference. AMC Player of the Year
Gabi Jakubowska and AMC Setter of the Year
Maiana Coelho led the resurgence with Jakubowska at 4.61 kills/set (7th in the NAIA) and Coelho averaging 10.04 assists/set (18thin the NAIA). The team is sixth in the nation with 286 service aces, led by 53 from senior
Luiza Arsufi, 49 from Jakubowska, and 44 from Coelho.
Indiana Wesleyan comes into the match on Wednesday at 32-2, with the only two losses coming against No. 16 Indiana University Kokomo on Aug. 16 and No. 4 Concordia University on Aug. 24. They lost one set in the Crossroads League Tournament on their way to winning the conference championship and swept Talladega College in the NAIA Opening Round on Nov. 23.
No. 17 Montana Tech enters pool play at 20-10 overall and 11-4 in the Frontier Conference. They were knocked out in the first round of the conference tournament in four sets by No. 19 Montana Western before taking down (RV) Bushnell University in the NAIA Opening Round to advance to Sioux City.
All game live streams will be free on the
NAIA Network. For live stats for both games, click
here.
