MARSHALL, Mo. – Back at full strength, the (RV) Missouri Baptist University men's volleyball team went into enemy territory on Tuesday and picked up one of its biggest wins of the year with a 3-0 sweep of No. 12 Missouri Valley College, 25-23, 25-19, 35-33. The Spartans handed MoVal, who has wins against No. 5 William Penn and No. 3 Park, their first straight-set loss of the season.
It marked the second Top-15 sweep in a five-day span for the Spartans. Ironically, the wins came against the same two teams that jumped ahead of MoBap in the conference and national rankings last week.
The road victory in Marshall helped extend MBU's winning streak to five matches and pushed the sets won streak to 15. Missouri Baptist improved its record to 16-4 and 5-4 in the Heart, while No. 12 Missouri Valley dropped to 11-3, 6-3 HEART.
MBU jumped out to an early lead, but the Vikings eventually pulled even and took their first lead of the opening frame at 12-11. The two teams jostled for positioning the rest of the way and were tied as late as 22-all. The Spartans claimed three of the last four points on a kill from
Aleksa Mandic, an MVC attack error, and a kill from
Veljko Culibrk to secure the 25-23 win. Mandic, Culibrk, and outside hitter
Auston Bonte each collected four kills apiece in the set.
After hitting .344% in Set One, MoBap turned up the heat in Set Two. The Spartans pulled ahead with an early 9-2 run and stayed in the driver's seat for the remainder of the set. They were highly selective, converting 19 attack attempts into 12 kills and just one error for a .579 hitting percentage. Freshman standout
Aleksa Mandic accounted for half of the team's kills in the 25-19 second set win.
Set Three went the distance and then some. Midway through the set, Missouri Baptist owned a 16-12 lead before MoVal responded. The Spartans were the first to reach the set point and match point at 24-22. The Vikings stayed alive with an MBU service error and an Andrey Bastos kill. From there, both teams had opportunities to close it out, including five set points for Missouri Valley and five for the Spartans. Fortunately for MBU, they settled it once and for all at 35-33 with a
Michael Olson kill.
Three Spartans finished with double-digit kills, including
Aleksa Mandic (16),
Auston Bonte (12), and
Michael Olson (11). All three also pitched in at least two blocks and an ace. Other notable performances included
Veljko Culibrk with seven kills on 10 swings (.600%) and three blocks,
David Rudic with 43 assists for 14.33 per set, and
Marko Jovanovic with a match-best 12 digs.
The road doesn't get any easier as the Spartans begin the back half of their Heart of America schedule at No. 3 Park. MBU has not won at the Breckon Sports Center in Parkville, Mo., since 2019.
