KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri Baptist women's volleyball surged to No. 8 in the latest Women's Volleyball Coaches Top 25 Poll, released Wednesday.
The Spartans are coming off a strong showing at the Midland Showdown in Fremont, Nebraska, last weekend, improving their record to 7-2. Missouri Baptist picked up wins over several ranked opponents, including Midland University, Viterbo University (Wis.), Oklahoma Wesleyan University and St. Thomas University. Their lone loss came against Northwestern University (Iowa), which climbed to No. 2 in the latest rankings.
Through nine matches, the Spartans have continued to outmatch their opponents across the stat sheet. Missouri Baptist is hitting .188 as a team while averaging 12.66 kills and 10.4 blocks per set.
Freshman setter Martina Lagabue has quickly established herself as a key piece of the Spartans' offense, totaling 639 assists while averaging 10.85 assists per set.
In the middle,
Fernanda Perini leads the team's attack with 112 kills, averaging 3.29 kills per set.
Ashlynn Hughes follows closely with 100 kills and an average of 2.86 kills per set.
Defensively,
Julia Reis Pereira has anchored the Spartans with 157 digs, averaging 4.49 digs per set.
At the top of the latest rankings, Eastern Oregon has taken over the No. 1 spot after opening the season with a perfect 11-0 record. The only other undefeated teams remaining in the Top 25 are No. 9 College of Idaho (7-0) and No. 12 Lewis-Clark State (6-0).
| RANK |
LAST TIME |
INSTITUTION [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] |
RECORD |
| 1 |
2 |
Eastern Oregon [17] |
11-0 |
| 2 |
1 |
Northwestern (Iowa) [1] |
6-1 |
| 3 |
T-3 |
Concordia (Neb.) |
6-2 |
| 4 |
5 |
Corban (Ore.) |
7-2 |
| 5 |
7 |
McPherson (Kan.) |
6-2 |
| 6 |
T-3 |
Indiana Wesleyan |
8-3 |
| 7 |
6 |
Providence (Mont.) |
6-1 |
| 8 |
11 |
Missouri Baptist |
7-2 |
| 9 |
18 |
College of Idaho |
7-0 |
| 10 |
10 |
Cumberlands (Ky.) |
9-1 |
| 11 |
16 |
Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) |
8-1 |
| T-12 |
17 |
Aquinas (Mich.) |
9-1 |
| T-12 |
23 |
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) |
6-0 |
| 14 |
RV |
Taylor (Ind.) |
10-3 |
| 15 |
9 |
Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) |
10-3 |
| 16 |
20 |
Midland (Neb.) |
6-3 |
| 17 |
15 |
The Master's (Calif.) |
4-4 |
| 18 |
22 |
Southern Oregon |
8-2 |
| 19 |
8 |
Bellevue (Neb.) |
4-2 |
| 20 |
NR |
Morningside (Iowa) |
7-2 |
| 21 |
14 |
St. Thomas (Fla.) |
4-5 |
| 22 |
13 |
IU Kokomo (Ind.) |
4-4 |
| 23 |
NR |
Spring Arbor (Mich.) |
8-2 |
| 24 |
25 |
Viterbo (Wis.) |
4-4 |
| 25 |
NR |
Southeastern (Fla.) |
5-3 |
