ST. LOUIS – Fifth-ranked Missouri Baptist University improved its conference-best record to 14-2 over the weekend with a four-set win over (RV) William Penn University and a sweep against No. 8 Grand View University. The Spartans have won seven games in a row and are 21-4 overall in 2025.
 
(RV) William Penn Recap
David Rudic led the way to a four-set Spartan victory on Friday night with 58 assists. With his big night, he moved up to second in program history behind 2024 MBU Hall of Fame selection Kyle Foley with 3,696 assists.
 
The Spartans hit .423 as a team with 65 kills and 13 errors on 123 total attacks as they won 25-22, 25-20, 23-25, 25-13. They tallied 10 service aces, six more than the Statesmen, and five blocks.
 
MBU cruised to a pair of set victories early in the game. They hit .375 in set one with Marko Jovanovic and Veljko Culibrk combining for 11 kills. The team raised the bar in the second set with a .517 percentage with 18 kills on 29 attacks and three errors.
 
William Penn cleaned up their act in the third set, hitting .367 and finishing a 25-23 frame victory with kills by Josh Bluhm and Tommy Fellows.
 
Tom Young's squad did not mess around in the fourth set, hitting .552 with 18 kills on 29 attacks and two errors to claim a 25-13 victory to end the match against the Statesmen.
 
Jovanovic led the team with 19 kills, followed by Michael Olson who had 18. Michael Anderson tallied three blocks and had eight kills on nine attacks (.889), and Alex Seyer posted 12 digs along with Rudic.
 
Spartan Stat Leaders
Kills: Marko Jovanovic (19)
Assists: David Rudic (58)
Hitting %: Michael Anderson (.889)
Aces: Marko Jovanovic(5)
Digs: Seyer & Rudic (12)
Blocks: Michael Anderson (3.0)
 
No. 8 Grand View Recap
The Spartans continued their hot play into a Saturday afternoon match against No. 8 Grand View and earned the sweep 25-20, 27-25, 25-16 behind a .407 attack percentage. MBU had four more service aces than the Vikings (7) and played outstanding defense with 35 digs, led by Seyer's 13.
 
The Spartans got the upper hand on a back-and-forth affair in the first set at 22-20. Rudic found Jovanovic twice on the final three plays to claim the opener 25-20.
 
The team hitting percentage dropped from .389 to .267 in the second set, but the Spartans still pulled out a 27-25 set-two win behind three team blocks and six kills from Olson. Looking for the sweep, MBU played nearly perfect volleyball in set three making one error on 25 attacks with 16 kills to win 25-16.
 
Olson was on fire on Saturday, posting a team-high 16 kills and a .500 percentage on 26 attacks. Rudic added 42 assists to his career total while Veljko Culibrk, Rudic, and Jovanovic each had two service aces.
 
Spartan Stat Leaders
Kills: Michael Olson (16)
Assists: David Rudic (42)
Hitting %: Michael Olson (.500)
Aces: Three tied (2)
Digs: Alex Seyer (13)
Blocks: Three tied (1.0)
 
Records
No. 4 Missouri Baptist: 21-4, 14-2 Heart
(RV) William Penn: 13-8, 10-4 Heart
No. 8 Grand View: 14-4, 12-3 Heart
 
Next Game
The Spartans are back in the Carl & Deloris Petty SRC on Saturday, March 29, against No. 9 Park University. The opening serve is set for 1 p.m.

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