ST. LOUIS – In just four short years, Missouri Baptist University STUNT has gone from fighting to score points in Year One (2021) and grabbing program win No. 1 in 2022 to becoming a top-premier STUNT program in the NAIA and the region.
The Spartans hosted the MBU STUNT Tournament in the Carl and Deloris Petty Sports & Recreation Complex on Friday and Saturday and ended with three dominant victories over Central Methodist, Missouri Valley, and Southwest Baptist, outscoring its opponents 56-1. With the trio of wins, MBU improved to 10-2 on the year and reached the 10-win mark for the first time in program history.
To open the tournament, the No. 4-ranked Spartans defeated Mid America NAIA conference opponent Central Methodist by a score of 13-1. The conference win over CMU solidified the Spartans' spot in the 2024 STUNT National Championship for NAIA and Club Divisions, which will be held in Fullerton, Calif., at Hope International University on April 18-20.
MBU jumped out to an 8-0 lead after three quarters and yielded just one point to the NAIA's sixth-ranked Eagles in the final period. Senior
Sophia Welch, at the top of the power rating leaderboard this weekend, paced the Spartans with 23 power points against CMU. Other top point-getters included
Kylie Lamb (22),
Kiley Roth (18), and
Emilia Ealick (18).
The Spartans finished Friday evening with a dominant 20-0 shutout of No. 7-ranked Missouri Valley. In the first three periods, MoBap scored a point in all but one routine to enter Quarter Four with an 11-0 advantage. The Spartans then scored all three points for partner stunts, jumps and tumbling, and pyramids and tosses in three out of the four fourth-quarter rounds. Welch led all players with 46 power points in the MoVal game, followed by Lamb (45) and
Grace Ketterer (40).
In the tournament finale, MBU was near flawless in a 23-0 win over NCAA DII Southwest Baptist. The Spartans scored all four possible points in Quarters 1 & 2, all 12 possible points in Quarter 4, and three out of the four points in Quarter 3. For the third straight match,
Sophia Welch, who was recognized with
Elaina Camerlynck and
Ashtin Townsend on Senior Day, led the Spartans in power points with 64. Captain
Kylie Lamb and
Kiley Roth rounded out the top three players in power ratings with 61 and 54 points, respectively.
In preparation for Nationals, MBU STUNT will head to Drury University's tournament in Springfield, Mo., on April 6-7 for a difficult stretch of games against DI No. 4 University of Central Arkansas, DII No. 9 Texas Woman's University, DII No. 8 St. Mary's University, and DII No. 4 Maryville University.
