No. 12 Men's Volleyball Sweeps Past Clarke at Home

Marshall, Mo., (March 30, 2024)- The No. 12 Missouri Valley College men's volleyball team welcomed in Clarke (Iowa) for a Heart of America Athletic Conference match Saturday afternoon inside the Burns Athletic Complex.  The Vikings swept the Pride by scores of 25-18, 25-23, 25-22.

The two teams traded points to open the first game, as Sophomore Right Side Samuel Essilfie (Tema, Ghana) put down a solo block, then teamed up with Junior Middle Blocker Arthur Martineli (Curitiba, Brazil) on a block.  Essilfie followed with one kill, as MVC pulled back to a 7-6 deficit.  Essilfie landed two more kills, and Freshman Outside Hitter Andrey Bastos (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) added one kill over the next stretch to keep the Vikings in a 10-9 deficit.  Clarke built up its lead, winning four of the next five points to make it a 14-10 score.  One kill from Bastos and three-straight CU errors allowed Missouri Valley to tie the teams at 14-14.  The pair of Junior Setter Lucas Rodrigues (Balnelariu, Cambriu, Brazil) and Martineli finished off back-to-back blocks and Freshman Outside Hitter Benjamin Webb (Auckland, New Zealand) finished off one kill to give MVC the advantage, at 17-15.  Three-straight kills, coming from Rodrigues, Sophomore Right Side Luca Hasse (Paderborn, Germany) and Bastos pushed the lead out to 21-17.  Missouri Valley ended the game by winning the final four points, which included one kill from Hasse and three Pride errors, to finish a 25-18 victory.

Game two started with one kill from Bastos and one ace from Rodrigues, along with three Clarke errors, to help MVC build up a 5-1 lead.  The Pride worked down its deficit over the next stretch, and eventually trailed, 8-7.  Missouri Valley responded as Rodrigues and Freshman Middle Blocker Samuel Stafford (Taringa, Australia) teamed up on a block, followed by a solo block from Bastos to extend the lead to 12-7.  Clarke bounced back, and won five of six points over a stretch of play to close the gap down to 15-14.  Webb came back with two-straight kills to make it a 17-14 score.  Missouri Valley eventually led, 19-16, but CU won four-straight, and five of six points over a stretch to sit in front, 21-20.  Webb landed one more kill, and three Pride errors allowed the Vikings to hold game-point, 24-21.  After back-to-back CU points, Hasse ended game one with a final kill, 25-23, and MVC led 2-0 in games won.

Play in the third game started with the teams trading points as Junior Outside Hitter Georgi Vlahov (Sofia, Bulgaria) and Freshman Middle Blocker Luiz Marinelo (Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil) teamed up on a block, followed by on kill each from Marinelo, Webb, Martineli and Vlahov to move MVC ahead, 6-5.  Hasse came through with three-straight kills to make it a 9-7 score, but Clarke responded by taking seven of eight points to claim a 14-10 lead.  The Pride eventually led, 17-13, before the Vikings began to chip away at the deficit.  Vlahov added one more kill, and a series of Clarke errors allowed the gap to sit at 19-18.  The next point went to CU, but Missouri Valley came back with a run late in the game.  Five-straight Pride errors, which included a block from Webb and Martineli, allowed MVC to pull ahead, 23-20.  Hasse made it match-point with another kill, and one final CU error ended the game, 25-23, as the Vikings swept the contest.

Hasse led with 11 kills, while both Webb and Bastos added six kills.  Rodrigues finished with 26 assists and five digs, both team-highs.  Missouri Valley put down 10 total blocks in the match.

Missouri Valley improves to 17-4 overall and 10-4 in the Heart.  Clarke drops to 6-19 on the season and 3-12 in the conference.  Missouri Valley won the previous meeting, in Dubuque, Iowa, back on March 2, by scores of 25-19, 25-12, 25-19.

Up next, the Viking men's volleyball team hosts Health Sciences & Pharmacy (Mo.), Tuesday at 7 p.m.  Missouri Valley won the previous match, back on March 5 in St. Louis, Mo., by scores of 33-35, 25-22, 25-18, 25-15.

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.