No. 12 Men's Volleyball Earns Home Sweep Over UHSP

Marshall, Mo., (March 1, 2025)- The No. 12 Missouri Valley College men's volleyball team welcomed Health Sciences & Pharmacy (Mo.) into the Burns Athletic Complex for a Heart of America Athletic Conference match, Saturday afternoon.  The Vikings won in a sweep by scores of 25-19, 25-21, 25-13.

The two teams traded points for a long stretch of play to open the first game.  Freshman Outside Hitter Guilherme Lorenzini (Florianopolis, Brazil) landed two kills, while Junior Opposite Luca Hasse (Paderborn, Germany), Senior Middle Blocker Arthur Martenelli (Curitiba, Brazil) and Junior Opposite Samuel Essilfie (Tema, Ghana) each had one kill to put Missouri Valley on top, 6-4.  Heath Sciences and Pharmacy worked back, and eventually, the two teams were tied at 9-9.  Esslifie opened a three-point run for MVC with a kill, as the team held a 12-9 advantage.  Again, UHSP trimmed down its deficit, and eventually made it a 14-14 score.  The Vikings took control of the game from there, winning seven of the next eight points.  Lorenzini started the run with one kill, followed by another kill from Hasse.  A pair of kills were finished off by Lorenzini, who then teamed up with Sophomore Middle Blocker Joao Tavares (Sao Paulo, Brazil) on a block to put the lead at 21-15.  Missouri Valley continued its play late in the game, using one kill from Lorenzini and Essilfie to stay on top, 23-17.  An error from Health Sciences and Pharmacy made it game-point, and one more Essilfie kill ended the first game, 25-19, in favor of the Vikings.

Missouri Valley jumped in front at the start of the second game, as Lorenzini put down an ace, followed by two kills from Essilfie and another ace by Tavares to make it a 4-1 score.  The Vikings won five out of six points during another stretch of play, as Essilfie and Hasse both landed one kill to put the lead at 9-4.  Three-straight points, including another Hasse kill kept MVC ahead, 12-7.  Health Sciences and Pharmacy chipped away at its deficit, and eventually trailed, 14-13.  The two teams traded points until a block from Tavares and Senior Setter Lucas Rodrigues (Balnelariu Cambriu, Brazil) gave Missouri Valley a 20-17 lead.  The Vikings stayed in front late in the game, and four kills from Essilfie closed out a 25-21 win to hold a 2-0 advantage in the match.

Going for the sweep in the third game, Missouri Valley used two kills from Tavares, a block by Freshman Setter Bruno Olivera Mroczek (Curitiba, Brazil) and Freshman Outside Hitter Tymoteusz Zadeberny (Gliwice, Poland) ace to sit on top, 4-1.  Freshman Setter Matheus Curi (Ribierao Preto, Brazil) put down another ace and Hasse added one kill to make it a 7-2 score.  Health Sciences and Pharmacy responded to win five of the next six points, and trail, 8-7.  The Vikings built on their lead, and pulled away.  Five-straight points, featuring two kills from Zadeberney made it a 14-8 advantage.  Another four-straight points, including one kill from Hasse and a block by Essilfie and Freshman Middle Blocker Martin Tseyera (Salta, Argentina) stretched the lead to 20-11.  One more kill from Essilfie and Hasse moved MVC to match-point, and a final kill from Freshman Jackson Gonzalez ended the game, 25-13, and gave Missouri Valley a sweep.  The Vikings hit at a .474 percentage in the game, and limited UHSP to a -.143 percentage.

Leading the team was Essilfie with 16 kills, on a .500 hitting percentage, to go with eight digs.  Hasse had 13 kills and eight digs.  Rodrigues led with 26 assists.  Missouri Valley totaled five blocks and four aces as a team, limiting Health Sciences and Pharmacy to a .037 hitting percentage in the match.

Missouri Valley improves to 7-2 overall and 3-2 in the Heart.  Health Sciences and Pharmacy drops to 3-9 on the season and 1-7 in the Heart.

Up next, the Viking men's volleyball team will travel to Oskaloosa, Iowa, to play William Penn (Iowa) in a Heart match, Friday at 7 p.m.

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.