ST. LOUIS – Missouri Baptist University men's volleyball finishes its away stretch against No. 5 Missouri Valley University, March 10, at 7 p.m., before coming home for two weekend games against Kansas Wesleyan University March 13, at 7 p.m. and Ottawa University March 14, at 1 p.m.

MBU won against Clarke University 3-1, after losing last week to No. 11 Mount Mercy University 3-0. Weekend leaders for the Spartans were Isaac Allgeyer with 24 kills and Johnathan Kreke with a hitting percentage of .444. Defensively Cruse Aea anchored the back row with 33 digs.

Aea also pulled through as the Defensive Player of the Week in the Heart of America Athletic Conference pushing the Spartans up the standings in conference to ninth.  

No. 5 Missouri Valley University

Missouri Valley is currently fifth in the nation and second in The Heart. The Vikings are led by Loan Fargier with 2.85 kills per set, setter Leonardo Goncalves with 7.8 assists per set, and Thales Thomas with 1.86 digs per set.

MVU last played MBU Feb. 10, and won in four sets, after the Spartans won the first set. During the last match, Luka Stepanovic led with 11 kills, Kreke added seven kills on a .312 hitting percentage, while Justin McGary and AJ Tufuga combined for 12 kills at the net and defensively adding three blocks each. Setter Josh Kaemmerer dished out 25 assists.

Since 2006, MBU has won 31 of 45 meetings. 

Kansas Wesleyan University

Kansas Wesleyan is 12^th in conference led by key players Conor Williams (4.07 kills per set), libero Josh Kiely (2.67 digs per set), setter Dallas Manaku (8.47 assists per set), and Kaleb Cui (24 aces and 0.44 blocks per set).

The last match up between these two teams was Feb. 13, where MBU won in four close sets. Allgeyer stood out in the game with 14 kills, while Nikos Faoutas and Kreke supported with 11 kills each. Defensively, KWU was shut down by Tufuga with four blocks and three blocks each coming from Kreke and Stepanovic. Libero Aea supported 16 digs and setter Axel Griguer fed 28 assists in the win.  

MBU and KWU started matching up in 2023 and has played five matches. The Spartans has gone 5-0 against the Coyotes.

Ottawa University

Ottawa stands at fourth in the conference with a 7-3 record. The Braves are offensively led in kills by Petar Lazic with 3.92 per set and setter Quentin Le Dortz, delivering 10.55 assists per set. Defensively, libero Leo Betin has 3.52 digs per set, and Kadeem Morris overall has 65 blocks.

The Braves last played the Spartans Feb. 14, and won 3-1 in close sets. Game leaders from the Spartans include Allgeyer with 18 kills and nine digs. Tufuga had 10 kills and two service aces, while setter Kaemmerer paced the offense with 26 assists. Aea held down the defense with 18 digs, while also adding five assists.

Since March 6, 2016, MBU and OU have faced off 18 times with MBU winning 17 of them.

Records
No. 9 Missouri Baptist: 4-6
No. 2 Missouri Valley: 7-1
No. 12  Kansas Wesleyan: 1-8
No. 4 Ottawa: 7-3

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