UPLAND, Ind. — No. 19 Missouri Baptist University women's volleyball extended its strong start to the season with a pair of wins Friday, Aug. 29, defeating (RV) Indiana Tech University 3–1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-16, 25-20) in the morning and sweeping the University of St. Francis (Ill.) 3–0 (25-18, 25-13, 25-18) in the afternoon at the Amber McClure Fayerweather Tournament.
Against (RV) Indiana Tech, the Spartans leaned on a balanced attack.
Gabi Jakubowska paced the offense with 24 kills and eight digs, while
Allana Capella had a double-double with 18 kills and 16 digs. Setter
Valentina Navarro orchestrated the offense with 52 assists and nine digs, and
Kassie Lee anchored the block with seven total.
Fernanda Perini chipped in seven kills and six blocks.
Indiana Tech was led by Amelia Schultz with 10 kills and Lauren Snyder with nine. Libero Elsie McCutchan collected 23 digs for the Warriors, one off the match high set by
Julia Reis Pereira, who had 24 for MBU.
In the second match, Missouri Baptist overpowered St. Francis with a .270 hitting percentage while holding the Fighting Saints to minus-.031. Jakubowska, Capella, and Perini combined for 22 kills, and Perini added five blocks. Capella tallied nine kills with 12 digs, Pereira had nine digs, and
Summer McDonough hit .357 with six kills on 14 attacks.
Riley Hungate paced St. Francis with 12 kills and 10 digs, but the Saints struggled to find rhythm offensively, committing 23 errors.
The 19
th-ranked Spartans continue the tournament against the host (RV) Taylor University at 8:30 a.m. (CT) on Saturday and follow with their final contest of the weekend against No. 14 Mount Vernon Nazarene University at 11 a.m. (CT).
