Sioux City, Iowa — Dordt and Missouri Baptist battled in a rematch of last year’s national semifinal, a game that saw the Spartans defeat the Defenders 3-0 to open pool play.
The Defenders got out to a 4-3 lead in set one while trading points with their opponent before Missouri Baptist took three in a row to take a 6-4 lead. After Dordt broke the run, the Spartans added four straight, forcing a Dordt timeout at 10-5. The Defenders continued to battle back in to tie the set at 14 on a Mia Gamet service ace. Missouri Baptist later extended their lead to as much as six at 22-16 until Dordt took five of the next six points. Grace Langemeier’s kill made the score 24-22 late, but the Spartans took the set on the following point.
The second set also saw both teams hold early leads through the first ten points with Dordt going up 7-6 on an attack error. With the score tied at 10, Missouri Baptist went on a 6-0 run that was broken up on kills from Alli and Corrina Timmermans. The Spartans led by a score of 19-12 before a pair of Missouri Baptist errors and a service ace from Campbell Marshall put the Defenders back within range. Down 22-17, Dordt rallied to tie the game at 24 in a run that featured three Corrina Timmermans kills and Megan Raszler’s service ace. The Spartans put away the next two points, however, to win set two 26-24.
The third set was controlled early by the Defenders, as Dordt and Missouri Baptist traded points until the 13-12 mark when Dordt scored three of four points. Trailing 19-16, Missouri Baptist went on an 8-0 run that changed the course of the set. Giovanna Tapigliani finished with a kill on the set point that secured the win for the Spartans.
Dordt had a .173 kill efficiency on 35 kills
Missouri Baptist finished with 49 kills for a .296 efficiency
Campbell Marshall led the team in assists with 17 to accompany three service aces
Corrina Timmermans had a team-high 12 kills for the Defenders
Missouri Baptist was led in kills by Isidora Stojovic and Giovanna Tapigliani with 15 each
Dordt dropped to an 18-10 overall record while Missouri Baptist improved to 29-2
