ST. LOUIS – The Heart of America gauntlet continued for No. 11 Missouri Baptist University Men's Volleyball as the Spartans welcomed the league's top-two teams to Lacey Gymnasium on Friday and Saturday. The Spartans' eight-match winning streak ended on Friday against first-place and No. 5-ranked William Penn. However, the Spartans salvaged the weekend with a top-five win over second-place and No. 4-ranked Grand View on Saturday afternoon.
 
Saturday's win moved MBU to 20-5 and 9-5 in conference, marking the program's tenth 20-win season in 11 years. The win also represented the Spartans' fifth over a ranked opponent this season and the fourth in eight matches.
 
The jockeying for position in the conference standings continues as MBU sits in fifth place at 9-5, Grand View sits in second at 11-4, and Missouri Valley and Park right behind in a tie for third at 10-4.
 
The Spartans will hit the road this week for matches at Culver-Stockton (4/2/24), Mount Mercy (4/5/24), and Clarke (4/6/24) before returning for the regular-season finale and Senior Night versus Missouri Valley on Tuesday, April 9.
 
(5) William Penn University def. (11) Missouri Baptist, 3-1 [25-21, 22-25, 25-20, 25-22]
William Penn, the winner of the last three matchups, has dialed up the right gameplan each time to shut down the Spartan attack. On Friday, the fifth-ranked Statesmen held MoBap to a season-low .155 hitting percentage, a far cry from the Spartans' .301 season average.
 
In Set One, WPU used a 7-0 run to take a 16-11 lead and fended off the Spartans on two occasions. The Statesmen were more efficient in their 25-21 opening set win, hitting .310 compared to MBU's .162.
 
With nine ties in the early part of Set Two, the Spartans had their hands full, with both teams looking to create some separation. Tied at 15-all, MBU made its move with Michael Olson at the service line. The Spartans scored six in a row with kills from Olson and Auston Bonte, back-to-back Olson aces, a WPU attack error, and an Aleksa Mandic kill. That was enough cushion for MBU to win 25-22 and even the match at one set apiece.
 
Set Three was within reach for the Spartans, even with William Penn hitting a match-best .440. Unfortunately for the Spartans, WPU pulled away from a 19-19 tie, scoring six of the last seven points. The fourth set had a similar tune and was neck-and-neck again at 18-18 and 19-19. The Statesmen turned to two of their standouts – Charlie Figy and Landon Krause – who led a 5-0 run and fended off a late Spartan push.
 
Austin Bonte led all players with 16 kills and was second on the team in digs with eight. Senior Michael Olson joined Bonte in double-digits with 12 kills while recording a match-best four service aces. Other stat leaders included David Rudic with 38 assists, Marko Jovanovic with 17 digs, and Veljko Culibrk with four blocks.
 
(11) Missouri Baptist def. (4) Grand View University, 3-2 [25-19, 17-25, 26-24, 21-25, 15-10]
The Vikings have had the Spartans' number recently, having won nine of the last ten matchups coming into Saturday's contest. That all changed, and MBU avoided the same outcome from its Iowa trip by flipping the 3-2 score on Grand View.
 
No. 11 MBU fired on all cylinders, hitting a red-hot .536 in Set One. Senior outside hitter Auston Bonte accounted for seven of the Spartans' 17 kills in the first set, and was accompanied by Michael Olson (4), Aleksa Mandic (3), and Michael Anderson (3).
 
The Spartans left all their momentum in the opening set as Grand View scored the first six points of Set Two. GVU built up a 10-point advantage (20-10) that was too much to overcome, even with the Spartans' late 5-1 run.
 
MBU moved on from the 25-17 Set Two loss and traded runs with the Vikings throughout Set Three. The Spartans reached set point first at 24-22 but surrendered back-to-back points to Grand View. The back-and-forth didn't last long as Auston Bonte delivered a kill at 25-24, and Veljko Culibrk served up an ace that grazed the tape and fell into no man's land for the set win.
 
In the fourth frame, the Spartans began to pull away in the middle of the set and led as late as 21-18. The visitors had different plans. With Daniel Galili serving, the Vikings scored seven unanswered to take the set and force a tiebreaker.
 
The Spartans played inspired volleyball after some close calls in Set Four. They opened the fifth set on a 4-0 run. Grand View responded and took its first lead at 9-8, but that is when MBU kicked it into overdrive against the No. 4-ranked Vikings. MBU scored seven of the last eight points to wrap things up. In the fifth set, the Spartans played error-free, with 10 kills on 26 swings.
 
Auston Bonte again led the Spartans with 18 kills and added six digs and four blocks. Not far behind Bonte were Michael Olson and Aleksa Mandic, with 16 kills and eight digs apiece. Middle blockers Veljko Culibrk and Michael Anderson combined for 13 kills, zero errors, and a .590 hitting %. The middle-blocking duo recorded one solo and nine block assists at the net.
 
Setter David Rudic registered a double-double with 54 assists and 11 digs, while libero Marko Jovanovic tied for a match-best 15 digs and pitched in three assists and two aces.