No. 12 Men's Volleyball Tops Health Sciences & Pharmacy at Home

Marshall, Mo., (April 2, 2024)- The No. 12 Missouri Valley College men's volleyball team played its final regular season home match, hosting Health Sciences & Pharmacy (Mo.) in a Heart of America Athletic Conference contest Tuesday evening inside the Burns Athletic Complex.  The Vikings earned a victory in three games by scores of 25-19, 25-14, 25-15.

Game one opened with Health Sciences & Pharmacy going on top by a 5-1 score.  Senior Middle Blocker Oscar Manana (The Bronx, N.Y.) followed with one kill, while Sophomore Right Side Luca Hasse (Paderborn, Germany) landed back-to-back kills, and Missouri Valley worked back to tie the game at 5-5.  Another four-point run for the Vikings, featuring two kills from Freshman Outside Hitter Davi Azevedo (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) pulled the team ahead, 9-7.  Missouri Valley won six of seven points through a stretch of play later in the game, helped by two kills  and one block from Senior Middle Blocker Daniel Isernhagen (Curitiba, Brazil), along with one kill from both Hasse and Azevedo to stretch the lead out to 20-14.  The two teams traded points through the rest of the game.  The final two points for the Vikings came from UHSP errors to close out a 25-19 win.  Missouri Valley hit at a .407 percentage in the game.

Two early kills from Hasse, and another kill from Azevedo opened the second game, but MVC fell into a 7-4 deficit.  Missouri Valley came back with one kill and a block from Isernhagen, while Freshman Outside Hitter Andrey Bastos (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) landed three kills as the teams were tied at 10-10.  Seven of the next eight points were won by Missouri Valley, including one kill from both Hasse and Azevedo and five Health Sciences & Pharmacy errors pushing MVC in front, 17-11.  The Vikings won five-straight points later in the game as Azevedo had two aces and one kill, Bastos added one kill and Junior Setter Lucas Rodrigues (Balnelariu Cambriu, Brazil) put down one block to make it a 23-13 score.  The final point came from Isernhagen on a kill and MVC won the game, 25-14.

Needing a win to complete the sweep, Missouri Valley gradually built up an early advantage as Manana finished off a pair of solo blocks, Azevedo had one block and one kill, Hasse put down one kill and Junior Libero Leonardo Leao (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) added one ace to make it 6-3.  Health Sciences & Pharmacy worked back to an 11-10 deficit, followed by three-straight MVC points.  Bastos had two kills and Manana landed one kill as the lead sat at 14-10.  The two teams traded points through an 18-14 score.  Sophomore Outside Hitter Ruben Baquero (Madrid, Spain) put down a pair of kills and Isernhagen moved the team to match-point on another kill.  One more UHSP error ended the game and gave the Vikings a 25-15 win to sweep the match.  Missouri Valley hit at a match-high .450 hitting percentage.

Bastos led with 10 kills on a .438 percentage, while Hasse had nine kills.  Azevedo had eight kills on a .500 percentage, while Isernhagen finished with six kills on a .556 percentage with three solo blocks.  Rodrigues led with 35 assists and Leao had a team-high nine digs.  Missouri Valley finished with eight total blocks and four aces.  The team hit at a .417 percentage in the match.

Missouri Valley improves to 18-4 on the season and 11-4 in the Heart.  Health Sciences & Pharmacy drops to 17-12 overall and 5-10 in the conference.  The Vikings won the previous match, played back on March 5 in St. Louis, Mo., by scores of 33-35, 25-22, 25-18, 25-15.

Up next, Missouri Valley travels to Lamoni, Iowa for a Heart match with Graceland (Iowa), Friday at 7 p.m.  The Vikings topped the Yellowjackets at home on March 8 by scores of 25-15, 25-19, 25-17.

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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.