SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Missouri Baptist University women's volleyball ended NAIA National Tournament Pool Play at 1-1 after sweeping No. 15 seed Montana Tech University. The Spartans stave off immediate elimination and will wait until the match between MTU and No. 2 Indiana Wesleyan University is completed tomorrow at 4:30 p.m.
Recap
The Spartans trailed 14-10 in the opening set when a
Kirsten van der Vleuten kill sent the team on a run that ended on one from
Madison Moore to tie it at 15-15. Trailing 17-19, Moore tallied another kill that propelled the Spartans on a 5-0 run. Leading 23-22,
Maiana Coelho found
Elina Arsov and followed up with an ace to give MBU a 1-0 advantage.
Needing one more assist to get to 2,000 in her career at the beginning of the second set, Coelho got it out of the way early by setting
Gabi Jakubowska to tie the frame at one. The teams went back and forth until a pair of kills and a service ace from
Luiza Arsufi. MTU responded with a 4-0 run of their own and MBU came back with a 9-1 run on five combined kills and two aces to push their lead out to 21-12. Arsov later made it 23-15 before MTU ended the set themselves with two errors.
With all of the momentum on their side, the Spartans got the job done in set three with a match-high .345 attack percentage with 17 kills on 29 attempts and seven errors. They went on to win the set 25-22 behind seven kills from Jakubowska to complete the sweep.
Jakubowska paced the offense with 17 kills, while Lee was a standout on both sides of the ball with a team-high .900 hitting percentage (nine kills on 10 attacks) and four blocks. Arsufi and
Julia Pereira had two aces each while Coelho led the squad with 37 assists and 11 digs.
Spartan Stat Leaders
Kills:
Gabi Jakubowska (17)
Assists:
Maiana Coelho (37)
Hitting %:
Kassie Lee (.900)
Aces: Arsufi & Pereira (2)
Digs:
Maiana Coelho (11)
Blocks: van der Vleuten & Lee (4.0)
Records
No. 23 seed Missouri Baptist: 27-12
No. 15 seed Montana Tech: 20-11
Next Game
The Spartans need Montana Tech to defeat Indiana Wesleyan tomorrow at 4:30 p.m., to force a Pool B tiebreaker on Friday night. With an MTU win, each team would finish with a 1-1 record.
