ST. LOUIS – Setter David Rudic hit 3,000 career assists in a five-set victory over No. 10 Missouri Valley College as the 11th-ranked Spartans picked up the first conference win of 2025 on Tuesday night. Missouri Baptist University won 25-27, 32-30, 22-25, 25-18, 15- 11 in their first meeting since being eliminated by the Vikings from the Heart of America Athletic Conference postseason last year.
 
No. 10 Missouri Valley Recap
Missouri Baptist struggled in the opening set with a .027 hitting percentage but found a way to force extra time. The Vikings had a 25-24 lead when David Rudic found Michael Anderson to tie the game. Davi Azevedo and Leonardo Leao responded by ending the first set on back-to-back kills.
 
Michael Olson and Veljko Culibrk had MBU off to a hot start in the second set as they took a 6-1 advantage. They eventually gave up the lead midway through before taking five of six to regain the lead at 23-21. Missouri Valley tied the game back up and the teams matched each other point for point until a kill and a block by Culibrk ended the second set 32-30.
 
The Vikings took a 2-1 advantage with a 25-22 win in set three, but the Spartans returned the favor with a dominant 25-18 set four win behind a game-high .344 hitting percentage.
 
MVC had a 4-2 lead in the fifth and final frame but surrendered five consecutive points on three errors and kills from Marko Jovanovic and Luka Stepanovic. With a loud home crowd behind them rooting for the upset, MBU found a 3-0 run at 9-7 and Culibrk slammed the door shut with a service ace for the 15^th point.
 
Rudic tallied 54 assists in the game, his second-highest total of his career, and surpassed the 3,000 career assist mark. Jovanovic led the team with 17 kills and Culibrk led with 10 blocks.
 
Spartan Stat Leaders
Kills: Marko Jovanovic (17)
Assists: David Rudic (54)
Hitting %: Michael Anderson (.471)
Aces: Four Tied (2)
Digs: Marko Jovanovic (12)
Blocks: Veljko Culibrk (10.0)
 
Records
No. 11 Missouri Baptist: 5-2, 1-0 Heart
No. 10 Missouri Valley: 4-1, 0-1 Heart
 
Coach's Corner:
"Proud of the guys tonight," said Head Men's Volleyball Coach Tom Young. "Missouri Valley is a good team, and we are excited to get this win. We didn't play our cleanest volleyball tonight, but we will take the win. Props to Moval as they had a lot of returners from a team that beat us in the playoffs last year, so it was nice to get some revenge. We know we must continue to get better because Moval will be a team in the Heart of America playoffs again this year."
 
Next Game
Conference play continues at home on Friday, Feb. 14, at 7 p.m., against Kansas Wesleyan University.
 
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