ST. LOUIS – No. 4 Missouri Baptist University men's volleyball swept Clarke University behind big days from freshman Luka Stepanovic and Veljko Culibrk. Stepanovic tallied a career-high nine kills, while Culibrk hit .875 with seven kills on eight attacks.
 
The Spartans have won 11 of their last 12 matches and sit at 14-3 overall and 9-1 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference.
 
Clarke Recap
Missouri Baptist made quick work of the Pride in three sets 25-21, 25-20, 25-16, hitting .357 in the match and posting six more blocks than the opposition. Their best set was the third in which they hit .600 with 13 kills on 20 attacks and one error.
 
Clarke was within striking distance late in the first set at 20-18, but a 3-0 run fueled by two kills from Culibrk and a service ace from Michael Olson gave the Spartans breathing room. Setter David Rudic found Marko Jovanovic and Michael Anderson for the final two points of the set to take a 1-0 advantage.
 
Down 18-9 in the second, the Pride scored on nine of the next 10 plays, including seven in a row, which forced an MBU timeout. Jovanovic came through with late-set heroics, sending down a kill to make it 23-18 and ending the frame with a hard-hit service ace.
 
Stepanovic took over the attack in the third set to help MBU to the sweep and a 25-16 win. The freshman from Belgrade, Serbia, had six kills in the frame to end his day with a career-high nine kills.
 
Culibrk continued to play white hot volleyball, hitting .875, while Jovanovic pitched in 10 kills and a trio of service aces.
 
Spartan Stat Leaders
Kills: Marko Jovanovic (10)
Assists: David Rudic (32)
Hitting %: Veljko Culibrk (.875)
Aces: Marko Jovanovic (3)
Digs: Alex Seyer (9)
Blocks: David Rudic (5.0)
 
Records
No. 4 Missouri Baptist: 14-3, 9-1 Heart
Clarke: 1-15, 1-9 Heart
 
Next Game
MBU volleyball hits the road on Tuesday, March 11, for a match against No. 11 Missouri Valley College. The opening serve in Marshall, Mo., is set for 7 p.m.
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