ST. LOUIS – No. 17 Missouri Baptist University women's volleyball turned in another dominant home performance Friday night, sweeping William Woods (25-20, 25-18, 25-17) inside the Carl & Deloris Petty SRC. The Spartans improved to 18-5 overall and 10-1 in Heart of America Athletic Conference play with their third straight victory.
Senior
Gabi Jakubowska led the Spartans with 10 kills on .316 hitting, while
Allana Capella added nine kills and four digs.
Summer McDonough was highly efficient with eight kills on 16 swings, and
Kassie Lee hit .444 with five kills.
Fernanda Perini added four kills and five total blocks to anchor the net.
As a team, the Spartans hit .321 with 36 kills on 78 attacks and nine aces. They held the Owls to a .091 attack percentage with 25 digs and six team blocks.
MBU controlled the opening set from start to finish, jumping out to a 5-2 lead behind early kills from Capella and Perini. A service ace by
Mary Potteiger extended the advantage to 6-2, and the Spartans never trailed again. William Woods closed within 18-15, but MBU responded with with a kill by Perini, an ace by
Nina Cillo, and a kill from Capella to close out the set 25-20.
The second set was all Spartans, highlighted by a 6-0 run midway through the frame. At 9-6, Cillo found McDonough for a kill before
Elina Arsov went on a long service run with a pair of aces. Jakubowska sent down three kills in five plays to make it 21-16 before Cillo found Capella once again to put the Spartans up 2-0 with a 25-18 final set score.
Missouri Baptist hit its stride in the third set, posting a .545 hitting percentage. Five Jakubowska kills had MBU ahead 14-12, and
Tiia Heikkinen notched a service ace to make it 17-15. The Spartans then took eight of the final nine points to end the sweep 25-17 on Lee's fifth kill of the evening.
The homestand continues for the Spartans on Tuesday, Oct. 14, as they welcome Missouri Valley College to the Petty SRC for a 7 p.m. opening serve.
