PARKVILLE, Mo.– Missouri Baptist University women's volleyball dropped their third consecutive contest to open the Park University Classic on Friday night. The Spartans took set three after falling behind 2-0 to the 14
th-ranked Pirates but were cut down before completing the reverse sweep with a 19-25, 17-25, 26-24, 15-25 final.
No. 14 Park Recap
The Pirates came out on fire in the first set, hitting .452 with 17 kills. Grecia Ung and Avery Caskey had four kills in the opening set while Trinity Iverson and Izabella Ceratti both had three, leading the way to a 25-19 set one win.
MBU spread the wealth early in set two, getting kills from
Elina Arsov,
Kirsten van der Vleuten,
Kassie Lee, and new addition
Madison Moore to open a 10-8 lead. Ung used one of her 20 kills in the contest to tie the second frame at 13 which sent Park on a 6-0 run.
Gabi Jakubowska battled back with a pair of kills, but it was not enough to stop the Pirate offensive. Park took a 2-0 lead with a 25-17 end.
The third set was the Spartans' best of the night, clocking in with a .333 hitting percentage and 17 kills. Setter
Maiana Coelho found Jakubowska for six kills and Lee for five to lead MBU to a thrilling 26-24 win. Tied at 24, Lee put her team ahead with a kill and
Tiia Heikkinen served up one of her two aces in the match to end it.
Park ended the comeback bid in set four with four more kills from Ceratti and three from Ung. The Pirates took the set 25-15 and the match 3-1.
Coelho logged her fourth double-double of the season on Friday night with 40 assists and 13 digs.
Spartan Stat Leaders
Kills:
Gabi Jakubowska &
Kassie Lee (14)
Assists:
Maiana Coelho (40)
Hitting %:
Kassie Lee (.407)
Aces:
Tiia Heikkinen (2)
Digs:
Julia Pereira (17)
Blocks:
Kassie Lee (3.0)
Records
(RV) Missouri Baptist: 2-9
No. 14 Park: 6-2
Next Game
The Spartans wrap up the Park University Classic with a pair of games on Saturday, Sept. 7, against Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Ariz.) at 10 a.m., and the University of Saint Mary (Kan.) at 2 p.m.
