ST. LOUIS, Mo. – No. 17 Missouri Baptist University opened the postseason on Saturday with a sweep of William Woods University (25-20, 25-21, 25-15) in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Quarterfinals inside the Carl & Deloris Petty SRC. The victory was the Spartans' 12
th straight to improve their overall record to 27-5.
Gabi Jakubowska led the offense with 19 kills on .324 hitting to go with three aces and five digs.
Fernanda Perini added eight kills and four blocks, while
Allana Capella contributed seven kills, five digs, and an ace.
Kassie Lee posted six kills and three blocks, and
Summer McDonough tallied three more rejections at the net, including two solo. Setter
Valentina Navarro directed the offense with 37 assists, three kills, and two aces, and libero
Julia Reis Pereira led all players with 19 digs.
As a team, Missouri Baptist hit .255 with eight aces and 15 total blocks, while limiting William Woods to a .011 hitting percentage.
MBU opened strong, hitting .229 in the first set behind
Gabi Jakubowska's six early kills and two service aces. The Spartans built a 16-9 lead before the Owls trimmed the margin to 19-23. Out of a late timeout,
Fernanda Perini delivered a key kill to push MBU to set point, and Capella sealed the 25-20 win.
The second set was more tightly contested. Missouri Baptist jumped to a 7-1 advantage following a Capella ace and a solo block from McDonough. William Woods fought back to tie the set at 13-13, but MBU regrouped with a 5-1 surge that included a service ace from Navarro and a trio of kills. The Spartans closed it out 25-21 on a Jakubowska's sixth kill of the frame.
MBU left no doubt in the third, racing out to a 12-7 lead and never trailing. WWU tied it up at 15-15, but the Spartans rattled off 10 consecutive points to end the sweep. Jakubowska started the run with a kill and a block along with Perini. McDonough logged her second solo block, followed by a pair of kills and another McDonough block assisted by Perini. Jakubowska sent down a feed from Navarro to make it 24-15, and Perini denied Luciana Paiva Pereira's attack to close out the sweep.
The Heart Semifinals are back in the Petty SRC on Tuesday, Nov. 11, at 7 p.m. The second-seeded Spartans will play third-seeded MidAmerica Nazarene University for a chance to compete for the title.
The game will be streamed on the
Urban Edge Network with live stats and tickets available on MBUSpartans.com.
