ST. LOUIS – No. 15 Missouri Baptist University women's volleyball swept Dillard University (La.) in the NAIA Opening Round to begin the NAIA National Tournament (25-20, 25-21, 25-18).
Gabi Jakubowska led the Spartans with 20 kills and surpassed MBU Hall of Fame member Ana Mercado's career record for kills (1,722).
With the sweep, the Spartans advanced to the NAIA Pool Play hosted at the final site, the Tyson Events Center, in Sioux City, Iowa. Pool play is set to begin on Wednesday, December 3. More information on pool selection and game times will be announced later. The full Pool Play schedule can be found
here.
Jakubowska drove the offense with 20 kills and broke the school's career kills record in her final game at the Carl & Deloris Petty SRC. She added a team-high seven blocks and hit .395 in 38 attempts.
Fernanda Perini pitched in 12 kills on 17 attacks (.647), including seven block assists, while
Kassie Lee had five blocks, and
Summer McDonough tallied four.
Valentina Navarro continued a stellar freshman campaign with 35 more assists and nine digs.
Julia Reis Pereira anchored the back row at libero with a team-high nine digs.
Navarro tallied 16 assists in the opening frame, receiving eight from Jakubowska's kills. Jakubowska hit .636 in the first with eight kills and one error on 11 attacks. Perini additionally went five-for-five on attacks as MBU won 25-20 behind a .484 attack percentage.
The Spartans escaped set two 25-21 behind eight more kills and four block assists from Jakubowska. Dillard pulled to within one at 21-22 when Perini paired up with Jakubowska for a block to make it 23-21 and followed up with another block assist with McDonough to end the set 25-21.
In the third set, MBU led 6-4 before rattling off seven in a row. The Bleu Devils continued to battle back, but Perini ended the sweep with three kills on the team's final four points.
The win gave women's volleyball its 15
th victory in a row and improved the overall record to 30-5 heading into the NAIA final site.
