QUINCY, Ill. – The Quincy University men's volleyball team went the distance on Friday night (Jan. 17) when they took on Missouri Baptist. QU found themselves ahead two sets to one, but ran out of gas late as they were handed a 22-25, 25-21, 25-18, 14-25, 15-11 loss. 

1st Set
After the first ten points of the game, Quincy found themselves down 7-3. The Hawks scored back-to-back points, including a kill from Eddie Jakubauskas, to make it a two point deficit. 

Quincy brought the score within one after a Blake Sprecher kill and a service ace from Jakubauskas. The Hawks only trailed 11-10. 

Missouri Baptist gained a 12-10 lead before a substitution dispute led to a long pause in game action.

Once play resumed, the Spartans went on a 3-0 run to boost their lead to 15-10. The Hawks called their first timeout of the game. 

Quincy was forced to play from behind the remainder of the first set. QU was able to bring the score to 22-20 after being down by as many as six points. This forced MBU to take a timeout. 

The Spartans came out of the timeout and took the first set 25-22. 

2nd Set
Quincy wasted no time in getting ahead in the second set. The Hawks grabbed an early 4-1 lead, but it was short-lived. 

Missouri Baptist scored five in a row to jump ahead 6-4, but QU had an answer with back-to-back points to tie the set. 

After a brief tie, Quincy regained the advantage following an Omari Wheeler kill and a MBU attack error. The Hawks went up 11-9. 

Blake Sprecher helped his team go up by four after his block made the score 14-10 QU. The Spartans called timeout after the momentum swung in favor of the Hawks. 

The Spartans clawed their way back into the lead after an 8-2 run. This run made the score 18-17. 

Quincy came right back to tie the game at 19-19. Omari Wheeler got a big block to give the Hawks the lead once again. Eddie Jakubauskas got a kill to bring the tally to 21-19. 

Missouri Baptist called their final timeout of the set after an attack error left the score at 23-21 QU. 

The Hawks finished off set two with a 25-21 win. 

3rd Set
In the third set, the Hawks came out of the short break with high energy. That energy translated to a quick 3-0 lead following a pair of blocks by the front line. 

Matt Friddle, Blake Sprecher, and Manuel Hernandez all defended the MBU attack early on. 

The early lead allowed QU to keep their foot on the gas. Matt Friddle served up an ace to boost Quincy's lead to 8-2. This was followed by an attack error by MBU to make the score 9-2. The Spartans called a timeout in an attempt to stop the bleeding. 

As the set continued, the Hawks stayed in front. Their lead grew to 18-10 allowing QU to control much of the second half of the set. 

Quincy went on to win set three 25-18 on a service ace from Manuel Hernandez. 

4th Set
With the Spartans down to their last leg, MBU could not afford to fall behind. After eight points, the score was notched at four apiece. 

Quincy went up 6-4, but the visitors quickly tied the game again at 6-6. 

A few points later, the Spartans went on a 5-0 run to gain an 11-7 advantage over QU. 

Missouri Baptist kept their momentum rolling after another three point run brought their lead to 15-10. The MBU lead later grew to 18-11 before QU called a timeout. 

The Spartans went on to tie the game at two sets apiece with a 25-14 set win. 

5th Set
In the decisive fifth set, Quincy gained the early 3-1 lead. The back-and-forth nature of the contest continued as MBU tied the game 3-3. 

After going down 5-4, a kill by Matt Friddle and a Spartan attack error gave the Hawks a brief 6-5 lead. 

Missouri Baptist went ahead 9-6 following a four point run. This forced Quincy to call a timeout. 

Zach Reider ended the drought with a kill after the timeout, but the Spartans stayed ahead after a QU attack error and a kill made MBU's lead 12-8. 

The Spartans came back from being down two sets to one and took the victory with a 15-12 set win. 

Stat Leaders
Blake Sprecher - 9 kills, 7 blocks, 4 digs
Omari Wheeler - 12 kills, 6 digs, 2 blocks

QU's Record
0-3

Next Game
The Hawks will look to get into the win column tomorrow night against last year's NAIA National Champions, Benedictine Mesa. The match is set to start at 7 p.m. in Pepsi Arena.