The Missouri Baptist University men's volleyball team pushed its winning streak to seven this past week with a road victory at then-No. 3 Park (Mo.), followed by a home sweep of University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy. Both victories avenged losses to the Pirates and Eutectics from February.
 
Improving to 18-4 overall, the Spartans continue their rise in the ever-changing top tier of the Heart of America standings. Sitting at 7-4 in conference play, they are now in a three-way tie for third with Park and Missouri Valley. In between this week's two revenge wins, the Spartans re-entered the NAIA Men's Volleyball Coaches' Top 15 Poll at No. 11 after spending one polling period receiving votes.
 
Amid the seven-match winning streak, MoBap has toppled three ranked teams, including then-No. 10 Mount Mercy, No. 12 Missouri Valley, and then-No. 3 Park. The Spartans are making a solid case for a postseason bid with four Top-15 wins on their resume.
 
(RV) Missouri Baptist def. (3) Park University, 3-1 [25-22, 28-26, 27-29, 25-19]
On Tuesday, the Spartans did what very few teams do at Breckon Sports Center in Parkville, Mo., and that's come away with a win. Since the Spartans' last win at Park in 2019, the Pirates had an impressive 65-2 home record, with their only losses coming to Heart powerhouse Grand View.
 
After a relatively slow start to the match and trailing by as much as seven, MBU came storming back with a key 5-0 run that included back-to-back service aces for Veljko Culibrk. Tied at 20-20, the Spartans scored in five of the last seven rallies to take Set One, 25-22.
 
While MBU led most of the second set and held a six-point advantage as late as 18-12, Park was the first to reach the set point. The Spartans halted Park's 5-1 run with a key Aleksa Mandic kill to knot it at 24-all and avoided one more of the Pirates' set point opportunities at 26-25. MBU benefited from a Joao Infante service error and closed the set with two consecutive Auston Bonte-Veljko Culibrk blocks. The 28-26 win in the second frame set the stage for a back-and-forth affair in Set Three.
 
No. 3 Park avoided the sweep on their home court with another set that went the distance. The Pirates won Set Three, 29-27.
 
The Spartans pulled away in the fourth frame for their biggest margin of victory on the night – 25-19. Like the previous matchup with Park, MBU's game plan at the networked well. In the five-set loss at the SRC, MBU notched 18 blocks (3.60 B/S), and in the Spartans' win Tuesday, they recorded another 15 blocks (3.75 B/S).
 
MBU hit .274% against the Pirates, led by Aleksa Mandic's 20 kills. Outside hitters Michael Olson and Auston Bonte pitched in 12 and 10, respectively. At the same time, the middle blocker duo of Michael Anderson and Veljko Culibrk were error-free, with nine combined kills on 17 swings (.529%). On Tuesday, Culibrk led the Spartans in service aces (3) and blocks (8). Other stat leads included David Rudic with 44 assists and Marko Jovanovic with nine digs.
 
(11) Missouri Baptist def. University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy, 3-0 [25-17, 25-12, 25-21]
Having experienced their only three-set loss of the season to UHSP, the Spartans knew Wednesday's matchup wouldn't be easy. It's not the same Eutectic men's volleyball program that entered the year with just eight wins and 69 losses in a four-year span.
 
While UHSP (17-8, 5-6 HEART) hung with the Spartans early, MBU pulled away with a 13-3 run and never looked back. One individual sparking the run was sophomore middle blocker Veljko Culibrk, who registered a kill, was in on two blocks, and served up two aces in a row. The Spartans out-hit UHSP .414 to .077 in the 25-17 Set One win with a 16-7 kill advantage.
 
There was an even larger gap in Set Two as the Spartans. MBU jumped to a quick 4-0 start, prompting an Eutectic timeout. That didn't stop the Spartans, who extended the lead to 14 and were unstoppable offensively. Tom Young's squad hit .688% in the set with five aces at the service line, including three in a row from Aleksa Mandic.
 
The Eutectics kept Set Three much closer but trailed the entirety.
 
MoBap hit a season-best .459% against UHSP, powered by pin hitters Auston Bonte (13 kills, .478%), Michael Olson (11 kills, .600%), and Aleksa Mandic (10 kills, .333%). The Spartans posted a 45-22 advantage in kills, an 11-3 advantage in aces, an 8-2 advantage in blocks, and a 26-17 advantage in digs.
 
Defensively, the Spartans shut down the reigning NAIA Setter of the Week, Cole Cwiklowski, who had just 20 assists in the sweep.
 
The Spartans will be home all next week as Graceland comes to town for a midweek contest on Tuesday, followed by a pair of top-five matchups in No. 5 William Penn and No. 4 Grand View on Friday and Saturday.