No. 11 Men's Volleyball Defeats Grand View in Four Games on the Road

Des Moines, Iowa, (Mar. 8, 2025)- The No. 11 Missouri Valley College men's volleyball team traveled to Des Moines, Iowa, for a Heart of America Athletic Conference match with No. 6 Grand View (Iowa), Saturday afternoon. The Vikings finished out a four game win, by scores of 26-28, 25-21, 25-23, 25-19.

The opening game began with Grand View going in front, at a 10-6 score. Sophomore Outside Hitter Davi Azevedo (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Senior Middle Blocker Arthur Martenelli (Curitiba, Brazil) each had a kill and two GVU errors kept the scoreboard close, 12-9. Missouri Valley won five-straight points to tie the game at 15-15, including two kills from Sophomore Outside Hitter Davi Azevedo (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), a kill from Junior Opposite Luca Hasse (Paderborn, Germany) and an ace from Senior Leonardo Leao (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). Teams traded points over the next stretch of play, featuring two kills from Junior Opposite Samuel Essilfie (Tema, Ghana) and a kill each from Azevedo and Hasse to keep the score tied at 21-21. The MVC Vikings used two Grand View errors to take the lead, but GVU took three-straight points to make it a game-point. Essilfie had back-to-back kills to tie the teams again, but Grand View won the next three points to end game one, 28-26, and hold a 1-0 advantage in games won.

The two teams traded points through much of early play in the second game. Hasse had three kills, while Essilfie landed an ace and Azevedo and Martenilli teamed up on a block to put MVC in a 9-8 deficit. Missouri Valley used three kills from Sophomore Outside Hitter Andrey Bastos (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), two kills from Azevedo and two Grand View errors to eventually go in front, 15-14. Teams played even through a 20-20 score, featuring a kill each from Bastos and Hasse, and three GVU errors. Missouri Valley closed out with winning five of the final six points with two kills from Azevedo, who also teamed up with Tavares on a block, and then Tavares added a solo block to win, 25-21 and take game two to tie the teams at 1-1 in games.

Grand View went in front in the third game, at 7-4, but Missouri Valley then won four-straight points, as Azevedo and Tavares had one kill each and Freshman Outside Hitter Tymoteusz Zadeberny (Gliwice, Poland) landed an ace to move ahead, 8-7. Both teams traded points over the next stretch of play, as Bastos had one kill and Tavares added a kill and a solo block to tie the game at 14-14. The MVC Vikings won six of the next eight points, with a block from Setter Lucas Rodrigues (Balnerlariu Cambriu, Brazil), two kills from Hasse, and Azevedo and Martenelli each recording one kill to pull ahead, 20-16. Grand View worked back to tie the game at 22-22, but Missouri Valley used two kills from Tavares and a GVU error to end game three, 25-23, and hold a 2-1 advantage in games won.

Game four featured MVC holding an early 7-5 lead, as Martenelli and Hasse added one kill each and Azevedo landed three kills over the stretch. Grand View cut into their deficit taking three of the next four points to tie the game at 8-8, but Missouri Valley used three-straight GVU errors and a kill from Bastos to move in front again, 13-9. MVC increased the gap from there, using a kill each from Tavares, Hasse and Azevedo and a solo block from Rodrigues to make it a 19-12 score. The teams traded points through the rest of the game, but Martenelli landed one more kill to reach match-point for the MVC Vikings, and one final Grand View error ended the game, 25-19 in favor of Missouri Valley to take the contest, 3-1 in games won.

Azevedo led with 17 kills and five digs, while Hasse had 14 kills and six digs. Bastos followed with eleven kills and Tavares added eight kills and three blocks. Martenelli totaled six kills and three blocks, and Essilfie had five kills. Rodrigues led with 50 assists and nine digs. Missouri Valley finished with three aces and seven blocks.

The win moves Missouri Valley to 9-2 on the season and 5-2 in the Heart, while Grand View drops to 9-3 overall and 7-2 in the conference.

Up next, the Viking men's volleyball team will host No. 4 Missouri Baptist for a Heart match, March 11, at 7 p.m., inside the Burns Athletic Complex.

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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.