ST. LOUIS — Missouri Baptist University women's volleyball rallied to a pair of upset wins to open the MBU Spartan Invitational on Wednesday. The Spartans defeated No. 16 Viterbo University in five sets and avoided the reverse sweep in a five-set win over No. 9 St. Thomas University to open the new campaign at 2-0.
No. 16 Viterbo Recap
Missouri Baptist rallied from a 2-1 deficit to knock off Viterbo 23-25, 26-24, 24-26, 25-14, 15-12 in the opener.
The Spartans dropped the first set despite 11 kills, then evened the match by taking a back-and-forth second frame 26-24 behind key swings from
Allana Capella and
Gabi Jakubowska. Viterbo edged the third set 26-24 on late kills by Sadie Treptow, but Missouri Baptist answered with its most dominant stretch, hitting .303 in the fourth set for a 25-14 win.
In the deciding set, the Spartans trailed 6-5 but went on a 5-0 run fueled by a pair of kills from Jakubowska, and a kill and a block each from Capella and Perini. Jakubowska ended with 29 kills, five aces, and four blocks for 36 points. Capella added 15 kills and 12 digs, and setter
Valentina Navarro handed out 51 assists.
Treptow led Viterbo with 11 kills while Jalen Hinzman added nine on a .500 hitting percentage. The V-Hawks fell to 0-1 despite out-blocking the Spartans 10-9.
No. 9 St. Thomas Recap
In the nightcap, Missouri Baptist overcame an early hole and survived two match points before outlasting St. Thomas 26-24, 27-25, 22-25, 24-26, 15-9.
The Spartans trailed 5-0 to open the first set but clawed back, pulling to within five at 22-17 before scoring four in a row on a pair of kills from Perini and an ace from Navarro. Missouri Baptist then closed on a 4-0 run, capped by a kill from sophomore
Elina Arsov to take the opener 26-24.
In set two, the Spartans hit .317 and fought off a late surge from the Bobcats to take it 27-25.
St. Thomas regrouped, taking the third 25-22 behind three kills from Raya Mlyakova. The Bobcats then forced a fifth set by winning a tight fourth 26-24, propelled by Mlyakova, who sent down three consecutive kills after STU trailed 24-23.
In the final set, MBU found themselves in an 8-6 hole but dug out of it on two kills from Jakubowska and an ace from freshman
Nina Cillo. The Bobcats snuck in one more point before the Spartans laid the hammer down with five straight, ending on an ace from Navarro.
Jakubowska again led the way with 26 kills and 19 digs, while Capella contributed 13 kills and 18 digs. Perini added 11 kills on a .400 hitting clip. Navarro distributed 51 assists for the second straight match.
Mlyakova paced St. Thomas with 22 kills and 12 digs, while Mehta had 14 kills and Bertke recorded 46 assists with 10 digs.
Missouri Baptist improved to 2-0 with the doubleheader sweep and will continue the MBU Spartan Invitational on Friday against No. 3 Corban University and No. 20 Midland University.
