KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Missouri Baptist University men's volleyball split a pair of games over the weekend in Kansas City, Mo.
MBU faced the Avila University first-year program on Friday evening in Kansas City. MBU came out strong, securing the sweep (25-17, 25-5, 25-20).
In a competitive contest on Saturday afternoon, the Spartans challenged the No. 2 Park University Pirates early but were unable to sustain momentum across all five sets (25-21, 20-25, 25-21, 19-25, 10-15).
The Spartans came out strong over the weekend, with key offensive plays from Luka Stepanovic and Isaac Allgeyer, who each led their team in kills in each game. Stepanovic also posted the highest hitting percentage of the first game with .629, while Johnathan Kreke was second with his percentage of .438. Setter Axel Griguer dished out 23 assists over the weekend and served the most aces, with five.
Defensively, middle blockers Kreke and AJ Tufuga held the most blocks for the weekend. In the first game, Kreke had two, while in the second, Tufuga shut down the attack with four. Outside attackers Justin McGary and Nikos Faoutas played defensively, each getting five digs.
Avila Recap
MBU secured the first point of the game with a kill from AJ Tufuga. The game started close, with back-and-forth rallies, before points from Kreke and Griguer led them to a four-point run for the win in the first set (25-17).
The Spartans took care of Avila in the second set, which started with a kill from Isaac Allgeyer. MBU held them to four points and went on to score 16. Kory Kretzer finished off the set with an assist from Matthew Johnson (25-5).
Going into the third set, head coach Tom Young switched out the lineup and put in Luke Smalley, Reagan Froemsdorf, Justin McGary, Ethyn Durham, Cooper Worley, Gabe Counts, Matthew Johnson, and Nikos Faoutas. Counts hit .500 with three kills on six attempts. Smalley added 14 assists, Johnson added four digs, and Faoutas ended the game with a kill with an assist from McGary (25-20).
Spartan Stat Leaders
Kills: Luka Stepanovic (10)
Assists: Axel Griguer (20)
Hitting %: Luka Stepanovic (.692)
Aces: Axel Griguer (2)
Digs: Justin McGary (5)
Blocks: Johnathan Kreke (2)
Park Recap
The Spartans came into Saturday's game strong, winning the first set 25-21. The frame began with an early MBU lead, highlighted by attacks from Stepanovic. The set remained close midway through, but MBU capitalized late when Griguer found Allgeyer and Stepanovic to complete the frame.
The Spartans fell behind early in the second set but regrouped and took an 11-10 lead. A few plays later, Park ripped off a 5-0 run to jump ahead 16-12. They completed the win 25-20 on a kill from Adrian Figueroa and an MBU service error.
Knotted up at 11 in the third, Griguer found Stepanovic for the Spartan lead before Moises Ortiz made an attack error. MBU maintained the slim lead for the remainder of the set and took the 2-1 advantage when Tufuga and a pair of errors from Park closed a 25-21 set three win.
Park answered in the fourth set, jumping out to an early advantage and limiting the Spartans' offensive flow. Leading 17-14, Veljko Stojic fueled a run with a pair of kills before Murillo Silva ended the fourth 25-19 on a kill.
In the deciding set, Figueroa took control of the match with a trio of consecutive kills to run the Park lead out to 12-8. He then completed the come-from-behind Pirates victory with his 32nd kill of the contest.
Spartan Stat Leaders
Kills: Isaac Allgeyer (17)
Assists: Axel Griguer (3)
Hitting %: Johnathan Kreke (.438)
Aces: Axel Griguer (3)
Digs: Nikos Faoutas (5)
Blocks: AJ Tufuga (4)
Records
No. 9 Missouri Baptist: 14-13
Avila: 1-18
No. 1: Park: 25-0
