FAYETTE, Mo. – No. 10 Missouri Baptist University overcame a slow start and used a dominant fifth set to edge Central Methodist University 3-2 (20-25, 25-19, 25-21, 23-25, 15-7) Thursday night inside Puckett Field House. The win lifted the Spartans to 15-3 overall and 7-1 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference.
As a team, MBU hit .210 with eight total blocks and 10 service aces, while holding CMU to .187 hitting.
Allana Capella paced the Spartans with 14 kills, while
Kassie Lee added 11 kills on .417 hitting.
Gabi Jakubowska contributed 10 kills, six digs, and two blocks, and
Fernanda Perini had nine kills and a team-high six blocks.
Elina Arsov chipped in eight kills, and
Valentina Navarro directed the attack with 32 assists, seven digs, and two aces. Libero
Julia Reis Pereira anchored the defense with 17 digs and two aces.
Central Methodist (11-5, 3-3) controlled the opening set, breaking away midway behind kills from Luciana Araujo and Joana Milho to take a 25-20 win. MBU responded quickly in the second as
Elina Arsov set the tone with an early kill, while Capella added five in the frame. The Spartans hit .176 and closed it out on a Jakubowska kill to even the match.
In the third, Perini sparked an 8-1 run on three consecutive kills that gave the Spartans a 13-10 advantage. Arsov closed out the run with a pair of aces followed by a kill from Jakubowska. Up 23-20, Navarro found Arsov and Perini to complete the set 25-21.
Central Methodist refused to fold, rallying from 13-9 down in the fourth. The Eagles pushed MBU to match point at 24-20, but narrowly escaped 25-23 after kills from
Madison Moore, Arsov, and a block by Capella and Lee.
Missouri Baptist left no doubt in the finale. Navarro opened with a service ace, and Jakubowska followed with a kill and another ace as the Spartans raced out to a 9-3 lead to force a CMU timeout.
Kassie Lee added two late kills before
Kathryn Froemsdorf ended the game with her second ace of the match.
The Spartans take a break from conference play as they host (RV) Lindsey Wilson University and Governors State University on Saturday, Sept. 27, in the MBU Classic Tournament. The opening serve against LWU is scheduled for 10 a.m., in the Carl & Deloris Petty SRC.
