No. 11 Men's Volleyball Sweeps To Win Over Graceland on the Road

Lamoni, Iowa, (April 5, 2024)- The No. 11 Missouri Valley College men's volleyball team traveled to Lamoni, Iowa, for a Heart of America Athletic Conference match with Graceland (Iowa). The Vikings earned the victory in a sweep by scores of 25-19, 25-21, 25-20.

Game one opened with the Vikings going in front early, as Freshman Outside Hitter Davi Azevedo (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) landed three kills, and Junior Outside Hitter Georgi Vlahov (Sofia, Bulgaria) and Sophomore Right Side Luca Hasse (Paderborn, Germany) had one kill each to make it a 5-3 score. Both teams traded points over the next stretch of play through a 7-7 score, but Missouri Valley took the lead again, winning four-straight points with a kill each from Hasse and Azevedo to hold an 11-8 advantage. The Yellowjackets tied the game at 15-15, after taking five of the next six points, but the Vikings answered back, using a GU error and two back to back aces from Azevedo to move ahead, 18-15. Missouri Valley ended game one by winning five of the final six points, which included a kill each from Sophomore Middle Blocker Vasil Stoimenov (Pazardzhik, Bulgaria) and Junior Middle Blocker Arthur Martineli (Curitiba, Brazil), and three Yellowjackets errors, 25-19.

Missouri Valley took control of game two from the start, as Azevedo had two kills, Junior Libero Leonardo Leao (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) landed an ace and also teamed up with Martineli on a block to hold a 7-1 advantage. The Vikings extended their lead, using one kill from Hasse, two GU errors, along with two kills by Vlahov, who also had a solo block, making it a 13-4 score. Graceland worked back its deficit over the next stretch winning seven of the next ten points, 16-11, where Freshman Outside Hitter Alezandros Alezandrou (Pyra, Cyprus) had back-to-back kills. The Yellowjackets eventually trailed 20-18, but Freshman Middle Blocker Samuel Stafford (Taringa, Australia) stopped their rally with a kill. After two-straight errors from GU, Hasse finished off game two with a final kill, 25-21, and MVC led 2-0 in games won. 

Needing a win to complete the sweep, Missouri Valley gradually built up an early advantage as Hasse totaled three kills, Martineli had one solo block and Freshman Libero Finn Geiger (Hofheim, Germany) added one ace to make it 7-5. The Vikings maintained their lead with two kills from Azevedo and one kill each from Stafford and Martineli, 12-9. The Yellowjackets eventually went in front, with a four-point run, making it a 15-13 score. Missouri Valley came back winning seven of the next nine points, where Hasse landed three kills, Stafford put down a pair of kills, and Vlahov and Azevedo had one kill each to move ahead, 20-17. Leao and Azevedo added the next two kills for the Vikings and an error from GU moved the team to game-point. Freshman Middle Blocker Luiz Marinelo (Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil) closed the game at a 25-20 score with a kill to sweep the match.

The team was led by Azevedo with 11 kills, two aces and one solo block. Hasse followed with 13 kills and 10 digs, while Stafford had six kills on a .714 percentage. Vlahov added four kills and one solo block. Martineli and Alexandrou totaled three kills each, and Leao led with 35 assists and one kill. Missouri Valley finished with a total of seven blocks and four aces.

Missouri Valley improves to 19-4 overall and 12-4 in the Heart. Graceland drops to 4-19 on the season and 2-14 in the conference.

Up next, the Vikings men's volleyball team will travel to Parkville, Mo. for a Heart of America Athletic Conference match with No. 12 Park (Mo.), Saturday at 2 p.m.

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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.