No. 12 Men's Volleyball Overcomes Deficit in Win at Ottawa

Ottawa, Kan., (Feb. 25, 2025)- The No. 12 Missouri Valley College men's volleyball team traveled to Ottawa, Kan., for a Heart of America Athletic Conference match against Ottawa (Kan.), Tuesday evening.  The Vikings fell behind early, but worked back to earn victory in four games by scores of 19-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-20.

The opening game began with Ottawa gradually building up an early lead, and sitting on top, 12-4.  Junior Opposite Luca Hasse (Paderborn, Germany) responded with back-to-back kills, but MVC eventually trailed by double-digits, at 18-8.  The two teams traded points over the next stretch, which included one kill from Senior Middle Blocker Arthur Martenelli (Curitiba, Brazil), and another kill from Hasse to make it a 21-15 deficit.  Freshman Outside Hitter Guilherme Lorenzini (Florianopolis, Brazil) and Junior Opposite Samuel Essilfie (Tema, Ghana) each had one kill late in the game, but the Vikings were unable to close the gap, as Ottawa won, 25-19.

The two teams traded points at the start of the second game, which included four kills from Essilfie to make it a 4-4 score.  Four errors by OU, and a block from Hasse allowed Missouri Valley to move in front, and take a 9-5 lead.  Sophomore Middle Blocker Joao Tavares (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Lorenzini each had one kill for the Vikings, and the advantage reached 13-8.  Missouri Valley stayed on top over the next stretch of play, which featured one kill from both Essilfie and Hasse to make it a 16-14 score.  However, the Braves won three-straight points and moved ahead, 17-16.  The two teams traded points through a 19-19 score.  Missouri Valley took control from there, as Essilfie put down two kills, Martenelli finished off a block and Tavares landed an ace to help MVC reach game-point.  One final kill from Essilfie ended the game, as the Vikings won six of the final seven points to take game two, 25-20.

Missouri Valley went in front early in the third game, helped by a block from Essilfie, Tavares and Senior Setter Lucas Rodrigues (Balnelariu Cambriu, Brazil), to go with one kill and one ace by Tavares to reach a 4-1 score.  Ottawa cut down its deficit to 7-6, while five-straight points won by MVC, including two aces and one kill from Hasse, put the advantage at 12-6.  The Vikings continued to increase the gap from there, using one ace from Freshman Outside Hitter Tymoteusz Zadeberny (Gilwice, Poland), two kills from Essilfie and one kill from Hasse to make it a 17-9 score.  The teams traded points through the rest of the game.  Essilfie had one more kill to reach game-point and Missouri Valley won the third game, 25-16.  The Vikings hit at a match-high .500 percentage. 

Going for the match in game four, MVC again jumped in front at the start, as Hasse, Martenelli and Essilfie all had one kill to make it a 4-1 advantage.  The teams traded points as one kill from Tavares and another by Essilfie kept MVC on top, 9-6.  Ottawa came back to win four of the next five points and tie the teams at 10-10.  The game stayed close through the next stretch of play, and OU eventually went on top, 18-17.  Back-to-back blocks by Martenelli and Essilfie sent MVC in front, 19-18.  Hasse had the next kill for Missouri Valley, followed by a block from Martenelli and Lorenzini.  Lorenzini made it match-point for the Vikings, and one final Ottawa error ended the game, 25-20 in favor of the Vikings to take the contest, 3-1 in games won.

Essilfie led with a double-double of 20 kills and 11 digs, to go with a .447 hitting percentage.  Hasse added 15 kills, on a .371 percentage, along with seven digs.  Rordrigues led with 21 assists, and Freshman Setter Matheus Curi (Riberao Preto, Brazil) had 18 assists.  Senior Libero Ruben Baquero (Madrid, Spain) had a team-high 15 digs.  Missouri Valley totaled 10 total blocks and six aces in the match.

Missouri Valley improves to 5-2 overall and 1-2 in the Heart.  Ottawa drops to 7-5 on the season and 2-2 in the conference.

Up next, the Viking men's volleyball team will host Kansas Wesleyan in a Heart contest, Friday at 7 p.m., inside the Burns Athletic Complex, for the first home match of the season.

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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.