[Men's Volleyball] Mustangs Hang Tight with No. 4 Spartans Despite 3-0 Loss

St. Louis, Mo. – As the season got underway earlier this week, the Mustangs hit the road for a weekend tournament, but first stopped to take on the No. 4 Spartans of Missouri Baptist University. The Mustangs would hang with the best of them tonight despite getting swept as they were in every single set. The home team would collect the win 3-0 (21-25, 23-25,19-25) to drop the Mustangs to 1-2 overall.

In the first set, the Mustangs would strike first after a lead off kill by Strahil Svilenski (JR/Sofia, Bulgaria). The score stayed within two points until the Spartans went on a small 3-0 run taking advantage of a couple Mustang attack errors making the score 13-10. The Mustangs counteracted with kills by Evan Gaskill (SO/Cedar Rapids, Iowa) and Julian Armendano (FR/La Plata, Argentina), as well as a service ace by Andrew Colantone (SO/Plainfield, Ill.) to knot the score at 13-13. The Spartans regained control from there just edging the Mustangs in the first set 25-21.

Once again the Mustangs would put the first point on the board thanks to a kill by Gaskill. After another small Spartan run, Nikola Stoimenov (JR/Pazardzhik, Bulgaria) sparked the Mustangs after a kill and three consecutive Spartan attack errors to give them the 7-6 lead. After falling behind by as much as five midway through the set, the Mustangs went on a 7-2 run thanks to three kills by Stoimenov, one from Ben Steffen (SO/Madison, Wis.) and Armendano, and a block assist by Steffen and Stoimenov. However, the Spartans would rally off five straight points to outlast the Mustangs once again 25-23.

In the third and final set, Colantone started with an opening kill, but the Spartans would grab the lead and run with it from there. A late comeback attempt was sparked just a little too late in the third as the Spartans completed the sweep 25-19 to close out the match.

On the night, the Mustangs totaled 30 kills, which was 11 less than the Spartans. The Mustangs were also held to only a .099 hitting percentage as opposed to the Spartans' .278. 27 assists were recorded for the Mustangs with 33 digs, and six total blocks. Individuals leaders included Stoimenov with 11 kills and Colantone dishing out 26 assists. Colantone and Gaskill had eight and seven digs respectively. Svilenski put up one solo block and three block assists in the match.

Up next, the Mustangs will compete in the highly competitive Park University Tournament Friday, Jan. 25 and Saturday, Jan. 26 in Parkville, Mo.