ST. LOUIS, MO—Missouri Baptist won the first two sets by identical scores, 25-20, and the Spartans went on to a 3-0 sweep (25-20, 25-20, 25-23) in the season opener for the Highlanders Thursday night in Carl and Deloris Petty Sports and Recreation Complex.

The Spartans, ranked No. 5 in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Men's Volleyball, opened its 2015 campaign on January 13 defeating Hannibal-LaGrange University, 3-1, and followed up with a 3-0 victory against visiting NJIT, improving to 2-0 on the season.

The Highlanders (0-1), are under new coaching leadership for the first time in nearly a decade, with Danny Goncalves coming in as the new head coach, having coached teams of both genders in high school, college, and at the club level, where he still competes as a player.

Missouri Baptist sophomore Mico Janicijevic notched a match-best 18 kills to lead the attack, followed by Chris Flood (7 kills).  The Spartans used one setter in the match, with Kyle Foley posting a match-best 34 assists. 

The Spartans held a 10.5-to-1.0 team blocking advantage led by Welch Shane with a match-best five blocks (2 solo, 3 assists) and Foley with four total blocks (1 solo, 3 assists).

NJIT's attack leader was sophomore outside hitter Jabarry Goodridge with a team-high 11 kills, followed by redshirt junior captain TJ Jurko with 8.  Senior setter Zak Robben, from St. Louis, Missouri, piled up a team-high 26 assists to open the first match of the 2015 season.

Senior libero Oren Zyndorf combined for 11 digs as senior Ryan Thomas added six digs for the visitors.

NJIT will return to action on Friday at Lindenwood in St. Charles, MO at 8pm. The trip continues on Sunday at 2 pm with a match at the University of Charleston in West Virginia.