Pride battle but fall short in 3-1 loss to No. 6 Missouri Baptist

DUBUQUE, Iowa - In a rematch from an earlier meeting on Feb. 11, the Clarke University men's volleyball team couldn't overcome No. 6 Missouri Baptist University in a 3-1 loss at the Kehl Center on Friday night.

The Spartans were able to take the first two sets and hold a commanding lead but CU hung tough to force a fourth set before Missouri Baptist closed out the night with set scores of 25-23, 25-16, 18-25, and 25-18.

Both teams hit for over a .400 hitting percentage in the opening set as the Pride struggled on the attack in the second, rounded back into form in the third for their set win but was only slightly over .000 in the fourthy as the team hitting percentages went .291-.136 in favor of the Spartans.

The pair of Auston Bonte and Miljan Kastratovic combined for 37 of the team's 57 total kills in the match as Bonte went 19-for-40 with 11 errors for an even .200 hitting percentage and Kastratovic finished 18-of-33 with six errors for a .364 hitting percentage.

For the Pride, Montez Thompson was the only player in double figures with kills as he went 11-for-20 with six errors to hit .250 on the night as Tye Ojala added nine kills along with seven apiece from both Michael Jenkins and Stephen Lewandowski. 

Clarke men's volleyball will host another Heart opponent from St. Louis on Saturday evening with University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy visits the Kehl Center for a 4:00 p.m. CT scheduled first serve.