ST. LOUIS – Missouri Baptist University men's volleyball fell in a five-set thriller at Maryville University on Tuesday night. The Spartans won sets one and four before falling 15-13 in the fifth frame of the Conway Clash.
 
Maryville Recap
The Spartans and the Saints matched each other point for point in the first set until Veljko Culibrk broke the 13-13 tie with a solo block. Maryville rebounded on a loud kill from Makai Scott. David Rudic found Marko Jovanovic again for the lead before the Saints rattled off four in a row to open an 18-15 lead to force an MBU timeout.
 
Out of the timeout, Scott served up an error, and a Michael Olson kill pulled the team to within one. Two points away from losing the first set, Culibrk and Jovanovic came up with a block ahead of a Luke Kraft attack error that tied the frame at 23. MBU notched another block to push the Saints to the brink, but they came through with a block of their own to push it to extra time.
 
Rudic found Jovanovic for a pair of attempts, and he connected on the second to push the lead to 25-24. An error tied the match, but Olson came flying in with a kill through the middle. Kraft tied the contest with an attack off an MBU block. The teams continued to exchange points until the Spartans pulled out a 30-28 victory on a kill from Michael Anderson and a block from Anderson and Radecki.
 
The Saints tried to fire one through the middle to open set two, but Olson was there to deny it for a 1-0 lead. He registered a block on the next play with Culibrk, and the Saints doubled the Spartan lead with a pair of errors to make it 4-0.
 
Maryville later trailed 8-3 and stormed back to take a 16-12 lead midway through the set. The Saints ran with the momentum and tied the match at a set a piece when Kraft ended the set 25-17 with a service ace.
 
Maryville continued strong play into the third set and jumped out to a commanding 14-9 advantage making Head Coach Tom Young use a timeout. MBU responded from a pair of Joe Nicometo aces with four consecutive points to pull within three at 18-15. Out of an MU timeout, the Saints made an error but Kraft stopped the run with a kill. The Saints went on to win 25-20.
 
Olson ended a 3-0 run from the Saints early in the fourth set, and the Spartans went on to tie the match at five behind two more kills from the graduate student. Jovanovic gave MBU the lead at 7-6 with his 12th kill but missed on a block attempt on the next point to tie it at seven.
 
The Spartans got out to an 11-8 lead, but Maryville came back on a couple of MBU errors and a service ace from Cameron Lee that put them up 14-12. Luka Stepanovic then joined in on a block with Culibrk and Olson to tie the set at 14-14. A few points later, another rejection put the team ahead, and a service ace from Olson pulled a timeout from the Saints at 17-15.
 
Trying to cling to a 22-20 lead, the Spartans gave up a kill to Kraft, Anderson and Kevin Doran swapped points, and Culibrk pushed Maryville to the brink at 24-22. Kraft notched another before a block tied the set at 24. MBU went on to force a fifth set on a Doran service error and a kill by Jovanovic.
 
Trailing 9-7 in the fifth, a Jovanovic ripped a serve that was too hot to handle and drifted back over to Rudic for a kill. Jovanovic let it rip again and tied the set at nine. Olson smoked a ball for a kill, but the Saints took the next two points. MBU pulled off one last block before the Saints took the set 15-13 and the five-set victory.
 
Spartan Stat Leaders
Kills: Marko Jovanovic (15)
Assists: David Rudic (45)
Hitting %: Michael Anderson (.471)
Aces: Michael Olson (2)
Digs: Alex Seyer (15)
Blocks: Veljko Culibrk (7)
 
Records
No. 11 Missouri Baptist: 3-1
Maryville: 2-5
 
Next Game
The Spartans continue the road trip in Illinois as they take on Saint Xavier University in Chicago on Friday, Feb. 7. The opening serve is set for 7 p.m.
 
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