No. 12 Men's Volleyball Sweeps Mount Mercy at Home

Marshall, Mo., (March 29, 2024)- The No. 12 Missouri Valley College men's volleyball team hosted Mount Mercy (Iowa), Friday evening for a Heart of America Athletic Conference match. The Vikings swept the Mustangs by scores of 25-21, 25-21, 25-13.

The first game started with Missouri Valley taking an early lead, using five errors by Mount Mercy and a kill from Freshman Outside Hitter Andrey Bastos (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) to hold a 6-3 advantage. The Vikings rallied and won six of the next eight points, where Freshman Middle Blocker Samuel Stafford (Taringa, Australia), Sophomore Right Side Luca Hasse (Paderborn, Germany) and Junior Setter Lucas Rodrigues (Balneario Camboriu, Brazil) each had one kill to move ahead, 12-6. The Mustangs cut into their deficit winning three-straight points keeping the scoreboard close, 16-15, but the Vikings answered back, as Hasse added three kills and an ace to extend their lead to, 22-17. Hasse and Bastos had a kill each, and a final solo block from Rodrigues helped to finish off game one, 25-21.

Game two started with the Mustangs going in front early by a 4-2 advantage. Then, both teams traded points through a 10-10 score, where Sophomore Right Side Samuel Essilfie (Tema, Ghana) had a solo block and two kills, and Bastos and Hasse each added two kills. Mount Mercy eventually took the lead winning five-straight points to make it a 15-10 score, but a kill from Bastos stopped their run. Missouri Valley responded by taking six points in the next stretch of play to keep the scoreboard close, 17-16, using three errors by the Mustangs, and a kill each from Senior Middle Blocker Daniel Isernhagen (Curitiba, Brazil) and Bastos. The Vikings came back after winning three-straight points to move ahead, as Essilfie and Bastos had two kills each, and Stafford and Bastos followed with a solo block each to end the second game, 25-21.

Missouri Valley took control of game three from the start, as Isernhagen added two kills, and Rodrigues, Bastos and Hasse put down a kill each, making it a 7-3 score. MVC eventually held a 12-6 lead, where the Vikings had kills from Stafford, Bastos and Essilfie, and Hasse landed an ace. Missouri Valley rallied and won six of the next seven points, with two kills each from Bastos and Essilfie, and Rodrigues and Isernhagen teamed up on a block, building up a 17-8 advantage. The Vikings kept extending their lead, as Isernhagen had a kill and an ace, Rodrigues added a kill and Freshman Outside Hitter Benjamin Webb (Auckland, New Zealand) had a solo block. Isernhagen closed the game at 25-13 with back-to-back solo blocks to sweep the match.

Leading the team was Bastos with 13 kills and one solo block, followed by Hasse with 8 kills and two aces. Essilfie totaled seven kills, while Isernhagen had six kills and two solo blocks. Rodrigues led with 33 assists and three kills. As a team, Missouri Valley finished with a total of 11 blocks and three aces in the match.

Missouri Valley improves to 16-4 overall and 9-4 in the Heart. Mount Mercy drops to 21-6 on the season and 8-6 in the conference.

Up next, the Vikings men's volleyball team will host Clarke (Iowa) in a Heart of America Athletic Conference match, Saturday at 2 p.m., inside the Burns Athletic Complex.

Box Score- Click Here

About Missouri Valley College

Known for its dynamic, richly diverse, and friendly educational environment, Missouri Valley College offers many opportunities to grow in mind, body, and spirit. Grounded in the liberal arts, undergraduate studies empower students to master interdisciplinary skills needed to succeed in a knowledge-based global society. MVC offers over 30 academic programs, study abroad program, extracurricular activities, and a wide variety of sports. The most popular majors include education and business, criminal justice and exercise science. Above all, Valley is committed to student success. For more information, call (660) 831-4000 or visit www.moval.edu.