ST. LOUIS – No. 17 Missouri Baptist University women's volleyball swept its way into the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship game with a straight-set victory over No. 25 MidAmerica Nazarene University.
The second-seeded Spartans defeated the third-seeded Pioneers 25-14, 25-21, 25-21 on Tuesday night. They will host the fifth-seeded Park University Pirates for the title on Saturday, Nov. 15, at 6 p.m., in the Carl & Deloris Petty SRC.
Allana Capella had a monster game, hitting .556 with 12 kills, four aces, seven digs, and four block assists.
Gabi Jakubowska crept closer to the program's all-time kills record with 11 more on Tuesday, to go along with an ace, four digs, and a block.
Kassie Lee pitched in six kills while
Fernanda Perini picked up eight blocks.
The Spartans dominated the first set 25-14, holding the Pioneers to a .042 hitting percentage behind three Perini blocks. Capella, Jakubowska, and Lee combined for 10 kills in the frame as the team hit .364. Freshman
Nina Cillo logged a pair of aces, and setter
Valentina Navarro posted 10 of her 30 assists.
MNU made it a closer second set, battling back from down 12-19 to make it 21-23. A service error put the ball in the hands of Jakubowska at the service line, and she clinched the set-two win with an ace. Capella and
Tiia Heikkinen both helped the cause with a pair of aces in the frame, while Lee, Jakubowska, and Capella tallied three kills each.
MBU continued to stay hot into the third, opening on a 7-1 run and never trailing in a 25-21 victory to complete the sweep. Capella took over the set with six kills to end her night with a .556 percentage. A kill from Maddie Schmidt had the Pioneers in striking distance at 21-23 before Capella ended the match with consecutive kills.
The Heart Championship match on Saturday can be watched on the
Urban Edge Network. Tickets can be purchased on
MBUSpartans.com/Tickets. Live stats can be found on MBUSpartans.com or on the Missouri Baptist Spartans mobile app.
